The Unresolved Casefiles
by Saya Moonshadow
Summary: A collection of unfinished works from the bowels of the filing cabinet, which shall all remain unfinished. Number Six...Lava pits, lost kraata, and hyperactive Rahkshi. There is absolutely no way that this could possibly go wrong, right? Oh yeah...
1. A Woman Scorned

**Welcome to **_**The Unresolved Casefiles**_**, in which you all get to see all my unfinished projects and the like! Since I'll be peacing out as soon as _Chasing the Sun_, _Blurbs and Other Such Things_, and _Hush Little Baby_ are done, I figure I might as well show you everything else I've been hiding in the meantime. _A Path Well Traveled_ is still up in the air, though I DO want to finish it...I'm just not sure if I'll be able to summon up the motivation to do so.**

**To answer a few questions straight up front:**

**1. No, none of these will ever be finished.**

**2. Yes, some of them DO end in mid-sentence because my muse likes to run out on me at odd times.**

**3. Yes, some of these are unfinished chapters for multichapter fics that I have abandoned.**

**4. Yes, some of these are failed oneshots that never quite got off the ground. Hurr.**

**5. Yes, several of these are quite old, though some are as recent as July or August. I filed them away in my laptop's memory with the intention of finishing them, and...that obviously never quite happened.**

**6. No, you may not use these. Despite being unfinished, they are mine. If you want to, say, adopt one and finish it, then please ask me first.**

**Kthnx.**

**Disclaimer: The usual crap. I don't own, and I never will. Bah.**

**Summary: After so long, Nokama finds that she's rather tired of waiting for Vakama to come around and takes matters into her own hands. Uh oh. This won't end well...**

**Pairing: Vakama/Nokama.**

**The Unresolved Casefiles  
****No. 1: A Woman Scorned  
****By: Saya Moonshadow**

**Chapter One**

The sudden revelation that life was rather unfair struck Nokama without warning very, very late one night. So late, in fact, that it was early.

Life was good. Life was content. Now that Metru Nui was peaceful, anyway. But it certainly wasn't fair. Somehow. That only made sense in the most abstract part of her mind, but by this point she was frustrated and tired enough to just go with it, damn the consequences of illogical thinking at three in the morning.

Teaching was fun. Being a Toa was fun too, whenever she wasn't being put in some kind of mortal peril for the sake of saving the world. Her teammates were..._OK_...when they weren't being the worst cases of head trips she'd ever seen.

(And OK, so maybe they weren't _that_ bad, but they came pretty close.)

What was really annoying her, she had to admit, was that there was a certain lack of special-ness in her life. And she also had to admit that it was a certain KIND of special-ness that she was lacking.

Yes, she could very easily label the frequent object of her thoughts as "special", although whether or not it was in a good way was completely up to the casual observer.

What was so wrong with her, she wondered sourly, that he couldn't waste the time of day actually spending time with her? He cared about her, she knew he did. He'd as good as admitted it at one point, in a roundabout sort of way.

And OK, so maybe he wasn't _quite_ as clueless as Nuju, who was hardly even aware of the opposite sex to begin with, but he certainly seemed to be having a hard time taking the hint that _dammit, she was interested in him and wanted to see some sort of reciprocation._ After all, what kind of male _runs away_ from his own fangirls? Onewa and Matau just _loved_ the attention, why didn't he?

She could practically hear Matau's disbelieving shout of, _"Running from girls; what kinda man ARE you?"_ and stifled a snort.

At least he didn't bury himself in cataloguing, like Whenua did, but Nokama also supposed what he did was even worse: shutting himself up in the Great Furnace for days on end and coming out a week later, the completed product of his efforts in one hand, and looking like he hadn't slept in that whole week.

Knowing Vakama, that was entirely possible.

Apparently masks were his life.

Apparently masks took precedence over the opposite sex.

Of which she was a member.

Oh Great Spirits, she swore if that were the case then somebody was going to _die_. Violent thoughts for a Toa of Water, but it was now almost 3:30 AM and she was stuck between sleep and waking in some bizarre sort of half-sleep where everything, no matter how strange, made sense.

She'd been patient. She'd waited like a good girl for the male to make the move, as was proper. But no. No action had been taken whatsoever. He'd continued to simply treat her as a very good friend.

It was time to take matters into her own hands.

Oh, Vakama Metru was sure as hell going to regret ignoring her.

It was a very satisfied and somewhat deranged Nokama that fell asleep exactly eight seconds later, although the smile on her face was nothing short of elated. To the Gukko outside her window, however, it was nothing short of terrifying, and the poor bird took off with a screech the second it laid eyes upon her through the open window.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

Vakama Metru, despite his somewhat shaky status as the local weirdo who saw crap that wasn't there sometimes (visions, they were _visions_ and he wasn't schizophrenic, he found himself explaining to somebody at least four times a week), was a practical being. One who liked to push himself to the brink of absolute exhaustion about once a month, but that was unimportant.

He knew the importance of proper eating and sleeping habits (although admittedly his progress on the latter was rather lacking). He knew how good it was for a person to maintain good friendships and to get out with said friends every once in a while.

He knew it generally _wasn't_ a good idea to allow Matau to get drunk, but let his friend do so anyway. It had been a long day, and they were all a little tipsy, Matau more so than any of them.

Watching Matau when he was drunk was guaranteed entertainment, no matter what was going on at the time. Vakama wasn't likely to forget the time the Air Toa had attempted while intoxicated to hit on a traveling Toa of Lightning named Tazuna, who had promptly punched him into the wall, causing Metru Nui's very first bar brawl. Oh the things that people did when out of it...

They'd even dragged Nuju with them this time. The only one missing from their little group was Nokama, who was busy with...other stuff. According to Onewa, she'd looked rather pissy when he'd tried to invite her along and none of the male Toa Metru were about to approach her when she was in that kind of mood. Nokama in a bad mood was downright terrifying sometimes...

"'s that time-a the month again, eh, firespitter?" Matau slurred, plopping gracelessly into the stool next to Vakama's and the Fire Toa turned to face him.

"Males don't have 'that time of the month', Matau."

"_Oho_, but they _do!_" the Air Toa crowed, puffing his chest out in some ridiculous imitation of a Gukko bird. "I bore-read it in one of Nokama's books las' week!"

Vakama blinked, uncomprehending. "_Why_ were you reading a book about that?"

Matau did his best to remember that far back, but a combination of alcohol and his own poor short-term memory proved too much for him. Instead, he settled for a shrug. "Dunno, dude. But yeah, guys have their times-a the month too, and tha's what YOU'RE havin' right now!"

"You're delusional."

"And proud!"

Vakama sighed. "That wasn't a compliment, Matau."

Matau blinked. "Oh. Well, tha's jus' _mean_."

Wordlessly, Vakama turned back to his own drink and downed it in one gulp. He was a lightweight and knew he would regret this in the morning as he always did when Onewa and Matau dragged him out with them, but right now the alcohol was definitely needed. It had been a stressful week, and he was glad that the chaos was finally beginning to wind down.

For some unfathomable reason, tendrils of the Morbuzakh had managed to survive, and it was up to him and a very disgruntled Nuju to take the homicidal remnants down. And he had to admit that he himself hadn't been a very big help. Completely forgetting that it thrived off of heat, he had blasted it with fire - and then watched in startled horror as the thing suddenly _ballooned_ in size, snatching him up as it grew at a frightening rate.

Thank Mata Nui he'd had those few Ice disks with him, otherwise he would have been shit out of luck, as Onewa had put it.

Glancing over at the aforementioned Toa of Ice, he saw that Nuju had reached a state best described as "relaxed", though he too was well on his way to getting completely smashed as well. Nuju was yet another lightweight, which was only escalated by his skinny frame and the fact that he rarely drank.

By the end of the night, they'd be dragging him home by his ankles, Vakama was sure.

And then there was Onewa, who currently held the record for the most drinks downed, surpassed only by Turaga Dume, who apparently had some weird immunity to alcohol and had never been drunk in his life despite being able to drink all six of the Toa Metru under the table. None of them were likely to forget _that_ particular adventure any time soon.

Vakama hauled himself to his feet, swaying a bit and grabbing the table to regain his balance. "Tha' might be enough fer now," he muttered, making Matau laugh and almost fall off his stool.

"Ya can't let up now, firespitter!" the Air Toa protested, shoving his own half-finished drink at him out of some desire to make him stay. "Only jus' got started!"

Vakama stared down at the glass dubiously, wishing his brain would un-fuzz already so he could think properly. On the one hand, he wanted to go home, sleep, and prepare to start back on his masks tomorrow. On the other hand...maybe he could stay a while longer. It had been a while since they'd all been out together like this (minus Nokama, of course), and he might as well enjoy it while it lasted.

"'sides," Matau went on, yanking the glass back just as he was reaching for it, and downing it himself, "this's th' only time we c'n get drunk-smashed an' get 'way with it. No sense wastin' th' good stuff, yeah."

Shaking his head to clear it again (and having no such luck), Vakama plopped back down beside him and ordered another one.

There would be time to regret this in the morning. Right now, keeping up with Matau was infinitely more important.

As they continued with their self-appointed quest to drink themselves under the table, music and the general dull roar of the bar went on behind them, including Onewa and Whenua's raucous laughter as Nuju attempted to stand up after three drinks and ended falling flat on his face. "Too much fer ya, snowflake?" Onewa shouted, not bothering to help the Ice Toa pick himself up off the floor.

Nuju finally succeeded in hauling himself to his feet, though when he tried to turn towards his brown teammate, he crashed into their table and very nearly fell over again. If it hadn't been for Whenua grabbing onto him, he would have.

"My 'pologies," he slurred, and Whenua nodded, replying in some language he didn't know and thus didn't care about. In truth, it was just the Basic tongue backwards, but how the hell Whenua knew how to talk backwards was over even his own head, as he was only capable of it when drunk. "Ah think," Nuju continued, looking at the three Onewa's in front of him and wishing they would stop moving around already, "Ah shall maim you three on th' morrow. Don' wanna do it now."

Onewa laughed. "Like ya could. Can't even do that freaky glare thingy righ' now, can ya?"

Nuju stopped, considering. Then, he forced his face into what he hoped was his signature "death glare", but apparently he wasn't as successful as he might have hoped, because both Onewa and Whenua burst out laughing at his attempt. Or maybe they were just too drunk to register that it was the death glare that they were looking at. Who knew.

"Hate you," he spat instead.

"So, why d'ya think Nokama didn't wanna come?" Onewa turned his attention to Whenua and left Nuju to sulk by himself on his side of the table.

Whenua replied with something unintelligible.

Onewa nodded, apparently understanding and deciding that whatever it was had been a reasonable excuse. "Yeah, I guess...gotta suck bein' the only sober one, huh?"

Whenua shrugged.

"Yer right, I never tried it either...wonder what 's like?"

* * *

**AN: Aaaaaand it's over. Back into the folder with you, then!**

**For once I won't yell at you to review, but it'd be nice nonetheless. Yup, yup.**


	2. TaBA: Cats and Dogs

**And another. Pity I never finished this one, I really liked it while I was writing it. Hmm.**

**Disclaimer: Still no ownership. Pffft.**

**Summary: Puppy dog eyes won't work on Natay Hordika, not even from a pair of real puppies. Or will they?**

**Pairing: Onewa/Natay.**

**The Unresolved Casefiles  
****No. 2: Excerpt from **_**There And Back Again  
**__**Step Four: Cats and Dogs**__**  
**_**By: Saya Moonshadow**

_When a dog pees on your floor, it's usually a sign of affection..._

* * *

"No."

"Awh, come on, it's way too cute not to-"

"I said NO."

It was the usual morning in their household, starting off with the run-of-the-mill argument. In her mother's lap, five-year-old Nicole Metru chewed blissfully on the food being fed to her, all the while staring at the thing her father had smuggled in the night before. She giggled. To her, the thing seemed to be smiling, its tongue lolling out of its mouth and panting happily.

Onewa frowned. "And why not? What harm are they going to do?"

His life-partner froze. "THEY? You brought more than ONE?" Her voice was rising dangerously now, but as usual, he paid it no heed. He'd dealt with worse, after all.

"No duh, Natay. Two puppies. We're not going to keep them ALL, mind, Whenua already claimed one of them, but why can't we keep the other two?"

"Because they are filthy-"

"Says the one who LICKS herself clean-"

"-uncivilized-"

"Says the one who can't hear the word 'sex' without snickering-"

"-stupid-"

"That's harsh-"

"-and THAT THING IS PEEING ON MY FLOOR!"

Onewa winced as her voice shattered the window behind him, peppering him with tiny shards of glass. Carefully, he gave the Energy Hound puppy a tug on the snout, and it glanced at him almost guiltily, then up at his partner with fear in its eyes. It gave a tiny whimper as Natay rose from her seat with Nicole still in her arms, its tail between its legs.

Onewa frowned at her and picked the tiny pup up, holding it close as the other one cowered behind his legs. "Natay! Seriously, woman, I think I'm gonna get one of those remote controller things so whenever you start screaming, I can just press 'mute' and shut you up! You're scaring the poor things!"

His daughter giggled uproariously as her mother went on all fours with a rag, wiping up the mess on the floor and shaking the now wet rag at her mate, which he avoided warily.

"You," she snarled, flinging the rag into the waste bin, "are in so much trouble."

She was cut off by Nicole's scream of laughter as the Energy Hound puppy still on the floor tackled the little girl, licking her face energetically, tail wagging. When she had collected herself, Nicole sat up, the puppy still leaning over her and licking her face. "Wanna keep!" she announced.

Onewa took a moment to notice that the puppy was roughly the same size as his daughter and appealed to his partner again. "C'mon, Tay, they're no harm," he pleaded. "We'll train 'em not to do that inside, OK? Don't let your fear of dogs keep you down! Havin' a pup's a crucial part of a being's childhood!"

"I had a Hapaka when I was a Matoran," Natay muttered, melting slightly as the puppy in his arms licked at the finger she poked at it. "Heck if I know where it is now...probably dead, as Mahi Nui was sort of decimated after I left it..." She frowned, then sighed exasperatedly. Her mate and his fascination with Rahi never failed to amaze her. "Fine! Keep the little monsters. But one more accident," she snarled, pulling him close and flattening her large ears against her skull dangerously, "and they're GONE. Y'hear me?"

"With your level of volume, how could I NOT?" Onewa muttered, but then grinned and kissed her on the cheek. "Awesome! C'mon, Nikki, let's go show Jing and Aki and Matob our new friends!"

It soon became apparent that the Energy Hound puppies were much stronger than they looked, as the Toa of Stone was forced to chase after the one not in his arms, it having managed to get his daughter on its back and zoomed off with her. It was beyond him how that little thing managed to support Nicole's weight and STILL run so fast, but he put that behind him in favor of hunting it down with the other one attempting to lick his face and making his visibility rather poor indeed.

"FASTA!" Nicole shrieked, hanging onto the puppy's neck as it sped off in random directions, going wherever its whims chose to go. "GO FASTA!" She turned around and waved energetically at her father, doing his best just to keep them in his sights. "DADDY GO FASTA!"

"Go faster, she says!" Onewa huffed at the other puppy, who merely panted and wiggled happily. "I'm just trying to BREATHE here, and she tells me to go FASTER..."

Suddenly, the puppy stopped, nearly throwing Nicole off. Onewa caught up to them and doubled over, trying to catch his breath. He scowled as he remembered a familiar scene with a former friend of his.

"_Hey Onewa, what gets harder to catch the faster you go?"_

_My breath,_ he thought sourly, answering the remembered wisecrack. He glanced up at the white being that had captured his new puppy's feet in a casing of ice and grinned. "Thanks, Nuju."

"No problem." Nuju peered down at the struggling Energy Hound puppy and its tiny rider, then at Onewa and the puppy in his arms, and raised a brow. "Adopting?"

"Yup!" Onewa told him proudly. "Me and Whenua found 'em in the Archives. Seems one-a the Hounds in there was, er, pregnant when they caught it, and she gave birth a while ago. Whenua took one, and I took the other two. Cute, aren't they?"

Nuju snorted, seeing the puppy-lovesick look on his teammate's face as he gazed down at the pair. "Very. Although I'm sure Natay doesn't like them, hm?"

"Threatened to eat me when I brought them in," Onewa admitted. "But, apart from peeing on her surgically clean floor, I think they're fitting in pretty well! So, where's Jing? We were gonna show 'em to him and Matob and Aki when this one here took off with Nicole." He patted the now-freed puppy (the ice having had melted in the heat of Po-Metru) affectionately.

He was distracted by the arrival of Nuju's wife, Siahta Tora, and their son Jingo, or Jing for short. Lazy little squick of an Ice Toa...

He grinned at Siahta's delighted squeal upon seeing the puppies, knowing that even if Natay kicked them out, they'd at least have a place to go. And Nuju, despite his reputation as the cold-hearted Toa of Ice, had to admit that he, too, thought they were nothing short of adorable.

"What are their names?" Siahta asked, scratching the head of the one in Onewa's arms. He frowned. He hadn't thought of that, actually, the excitement of getting them had sort of overpowered everything else...

"How about Mikomi for this one?" Nuju came neatly to the rescue, tapping the one in his arms. "It's a male, and that's a name I've always liked."

"And Suki for this one." Siahta petted the one still on the ground. She smiled as her son peered at the small puppy through solemn blue eyes. Then, approving of this intrusion on his otherwise normal life, Jing gave a yawn and slumped down next to it, leaning his head on its back and closing his eyes. His mother grinned and ruffled his mask affectionately.

"I like Suki." Jing muttered, not opening his eyes. "Pretty name..."

"SUKI GO FASTA!" Nicole shouted, waving her arms. She frowned at Jing, who had taken over her puppy and was now apparently sleeping on her, but got over it when Suki licked her hand. She leaned towards her Uncle Nuju and whispered conspiratorially, "Mama not like 'em, but me an' Daddy like 'em much much!"

Nuju suppressed a grin. "Much much, huh?" he asked, and Nicole nodded enthusiastically. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to have a NORMAL child, instead of the lazy-as-a-rock genius he had sired. Mata Nui knew Jing was laidback enough to make lawn chairs look busy...

"Do you know where Vakama is?" Onewa was asking him and Siahta, and he looked up. "I wanna show him and Nokama and Matob these things."

"I think they're in Ga-Metru today," Siahta said thoughtfully. Carefully, she scooped up her four-year-old, ignoring his sleepy whine, and rocked him back to sleep. On the ground, Nicole gave a shriek of delight upon having Suki all to herself again.

"Ah, cool." Onewa smiled. He and Nicole said goodbye to Nuju and Siahta, who was still carrying a sleeping Jing, and began to make their way towards Ga-Metru. However, he grabbed Nicole's hand, giving her a stern look.

"You stay off that puppy's back," he said. "The last thing I need is for you to get away from me again."

She pouted.

"Daddy no fun!"

"I'm more fun than your mother," he grumbled as Mikomi started licking his face again. "She could turn the happiest occasion into a death march."

"FASTA!" Nicole shrieked, and he suddenly found himself being tugged along by his tiny daughter. Being denied the pleasures of Energy Hound puppy-back riding, Nicole opted for the next best thing, which was tugging her father along at the fastest speed she could go.

* * *

**AN: Yay for puppies! I wrote most of this around the time that my ex-roommate first got her Chihuahua, who behaves suspiciously like the two pups in this fic. He also has a thing about never being potty-trained. Thank God I no longer have to deal with him, love him to pieces though I do.**


	3. WitD: I'll be the one that you run to

**Whoa-boy, **_**Whispers In The Dark**_**. Haven't done anything with THAT fic a while...**

**Disclaimer: Sigh...I don't own **_**Bionicle**_**, nor do I make any profit off of writing for it, except for a feeling of self-satisfaction. Hoho. Anyone you don't recognize as canon most likely belongs to me, however.**

**Summary: Memories and dreams, that's all they are...memories and dreams.**

**Pairing: Vakama/Nokama.**

**Warning: The fic that this was supposed to be a part of is rated M. There IS some fairly nasty stuff that goes on in this chapter, though not really enough to trip the M-rating by itself. Just to let you know. Feel free to skip this one if you want.**

**The Unresolved Casefiles  
No. 3: Excerpt from **_**Whispers In The Dark  
Chapter Six: I'll be the one that you run to  
**_**By: Saya Moonshadow**

"_Ha...ha...ha...hahahaha...c'mere, you little shit...I gotta punish you..."_

"_Please, don't do it! Not tonight, please! He's tired, he's getting sick, just leave him alone for once-"_

"_Shut your mouth. He's my son and I'll punish him whenever the hell I want. Now, little boy, you did something real bad today, didn't you?"_

"_..."_

"_Answer me, boy!"_

"_...no."_

"_What? You didn't do anything wrong? Is that what you're trying to tell me?"_

"_...yes. I didn't do anything bad."_

"_Don't lie to me! You did, you fucking did! I fucking SAW you do it-"_

"_You didn't get home until just now, so how could you have seen him...do whatever it is you're accusing him of?"_

"_I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!"_

"_Ah - no, no, don't! No, please, I - AAAAAAGGHHH!"_

"_Now then, little boy, now that THAT'S taken care of...let's get back to the real situation, shall we? Care to explain why you were such a bad boy today, eh?"_

_Big, yellow eyes stared up at him. They were glassy with unshed tears and the effects of a cold starting from standing for too long out in the rain. The child was small, as all children of that age were, but this one was already beginning to grow up. He was so quiet for a boy of only five, it was disturbing. Quiet, calm, and sensitive._

_His son was a freak. He had fathered a freak. No other child he had seen was like this. Not only that, but his wife was daring to defend the freak._

_She lay on the floor now, her arm twisted at a strange angle and panting heavily. He grinned and grabbed his son by the arm, dragging him closer to himself. As he did, he took a look at the boy's hands. Nimble. Long-fingered and calloused already._

_Oh that was a good idea..._

_He reached behind himself, fiddling around for a moment before finding the counter drawer and opening it. He saw his son's eyes widen - and he'd thought they couldn't get any bigger - as he saw what was being withdrawn from it._

_He held the long kitchen knife up, and the boy saw his own face reflected back at him in its blade._

"_Let's get to that punishment now, shall we?"_

_He grabbed the boy's wrist, squeezing it hard enough to bruise, and his son gave a cry of pain as his clenched fist opened. That was all he needed. He placed the knife to the open palm and watched as tears began to slide down the child's face._

_The knife slid through the layers of skin easily, and blood began to flow immediately. He took his time, listening to his son whimper in pain, biting his lip to keep it in, and then grinned, digging it in deeper as he slid it down horizontally._

_As he reached the end, he gave the knife a flick, and the boy screamed as the tip - the sharpest part - dug a little bit into the wound._

_He snorted, throwing him onto the ground, where he lay, crying and clutching his bleeding hand. Pathetic, he couldn't even take a simple little slice. Yes, his son was definitely a freak._

_He stalked out of the kitchen, throwing a towel at his wife as he did so, watching her groan with agony as she tried to get up and go to their still crying son. They were both so...pathetic. "Get that cleaned up, don't want him bleeding to death," he told her, but she didn't look at him, merely gripped the towel he'd thrown at her hard and pressed it to her son's hand. He screamed louder at this, trying to wrench away from her._

_Pathetic...so pathetic...both of them..._

_But SHE wasn't pathetic, no, not at all. That beautiful woman he'd seen one day as he went to go pick his son up from school. He'd even talked to her a bit, and she was every bit as wonderful as he'd thought she would be. Nothing like the other two he'd had in his life, one a pale, pretty woman with indigo eyes and the other one on the floor at that very moment, keeping their waste of a son from bleeding to death. Both had let him down._

_But SHE wouldn't let him down, oh no. She wouldn't, she wouldn't. She was so beautiful...and the little girl she'd had with her was just as pretty. Yes...she was beautiful. Beautiful enough to make him need her more than anything in the world._

_Perhaps she was divorced, a single mother, as she hadn't mentioned anything about a husband the entire time they had talked while he waited for his son to come out of his classroom. He was sure that was the case. And the way she'd smiled at him the whole time...she wanted him as much as he wanted her, he just knew she did._

_He'd go see her now. Yes. Go see her now. Get to know her more. Express it to her in small ways just how much he liked her. She would reciprocate his feelings soon, if she already didn't. Which she had to. There was no way she couldn't..._

* * *

"Mmfff..." She couldn't ignore the heat in her body as he looked at her, eyes practically burning. The light in the room was dim, and although she didn't recognize her surroundings in the least bit, she didn't care. All she could concentrate on was the person who stood in front of her.

"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked, and he smirked at her, sending shivers down her spine.

"Several, actually."

"Oh? Like what?" She leaned back on the bed, sending him a bored look. In contrast to her attitude, her heart was racing and her stomach fluttering nervously.

He took a step forward, and another, until he was climbing onto the bed to kneel over her. She scooted backwards, more nervous now than ever. He followed her, eventually backing her up against the wall and leaning in a little too close for comfort. That same smirk still played on his mouth as he spoke.

"For one thing, you can start by not..._teasing_ me anymore."

"And what does that - ohhhhh..." Her eyes fluttered closed and she sucked in a breath as he leaned in further and placed a kiss where her neck connected to her shoulder. Involuntarily, her hands fisted in the covering of the bed.

She heard him give a laugh as he pulled back to stare her in the eye again, and half-listened to him say, "See, that's what I mean. Doing this, pretending you don't want me when I know for a fact that you DO."

"I...don't want you...gahhh..." His fingers had just entangled in her hair and he leaned his forehead against hers as his remaining hand held him up from where he leaned over her.

"Wanna bet, Nokama?"

He was too close. Him and his warm hands and body that made her heat up way too much when he touched her. She couldn't think properly, could only concentrate on him and that smile that was driving her mad-

"Nokama."

"What?" she muttered.

"Nokama!"

"_What?_" she asked, getting annoyed now. Why was he just repeating her name?

"NOKAMA! Wake the hell up!"

She sat bolt upright as Onewa's voice exploded in her ear, knocking heads with her older brother and causing both of them to yell.

* * *

**AN: Hurray for awkward dream sequences and being woken up by your siblings!**

**Errr...yeah. Gawd, reading this again after two years is like the trippiest thing ever. Or at least since my sister painted the walls of her apartment bright green.**

**And that'll be all for now. Look for more later.**


	4. Something Wicked

**This one was mainly written for the awesomeness that came along with imagining Tahu speaking in a British accent. Fuck yeah.**

**Also - absolutely no disrespect is meant towards religion or religious people in general with this one. So sorry if this offends you, but seriously.**

**Disclaimer: Again, **_**Bionicle **_**is not mine. Only this specific plotline is.**

**Summary: AU. "You wanted me to take the pain away, so I did. You wanted a better life. Well, you've got it, and now you're stuck paying the price." So the sexy guy who just moved into the apartment next door just so happens to be possessed by a demon. Who knew, huh?**

**Pairing: Tahu/Gali...or it would have been, had this one ever continued.**

**The Unresolved Casefiles  
No. 4: Excerpt from **_**Something Wicked  
Prologue: Deal With a Demon  
**_**By: Saya Moonshadow**

My name is Tahu, and at the age of nineteen, I made the stupidest mistake of my life.

I had just about had it with everything. Life was horrible, and it was made worse by the constant famines, plagues, war, goddamn fucking everything that my town was subjected to. Year after year, the world just seemed to get worse, and despite the promises that the church and the king gave whenever something new came up, nothing ever changed.

"_Pray to God, and ye shall be saved!"_

Yeah, tell that to everyone who died of this ridiculous Black Death.

"_Give me your money, and you shall be protected!"_

Right, and apparently the French soldiers who slaughtered my family hadn't been notified about that yet.

"_The Lord has spoken! When spring comes, there shall be food!"_

And I suppose that helps when it's only November and we're all starving to death.

My family was killed by rampaging soldiers, my home was destroyed in that same attack, the woman I was supposed to marry succumbed to the first wave of the plague, and what remained of my money was taken by the king and the church to help pay for all the damage that _they_ had caused in the first place. I had nothing left at that point but the rags on my back, and even those weren't going to last long.

Everything boiled to a head when I caught the Black Death as well. I'm sorry to say that this was my own fault to begin with. After my home burned down and my family died, I was lucky enough to be taken in by a family from the next town once I had wandered over there, months later.

We all thought that the plague, at least, was gone. It had gone on its rampage, and at last people seemed to be recovering. But instead, it came back for one last strain, and the husband of the woman who had taken me in was one of the first to fall ill.

I caught it from him - from all of them, actually. One by one, they dropped like flies around me, until it was only me left in that tiny house. All five children were dead, and their parents had gone before them. I was alone.

And then it hit me as well. For hours I shivered and fought it, but I could still feel my body shutting down. I should just go to sleep and forget about everything.

That's what I _should_ have done, and I bitterly regret the decision I made instead.

As I lay there on the floor, heaving and gasping and fighting for life, I heard a voice in my ear. It was a deep, gravelly voice, like one I had heard on men who smoked from their pipes every night. The man whose wife had taken me in had had a voice like that.

But this voice was also high - it spoke in two voices at once, one low and dark, the other high and light and comforting. It was that higher voice that made me listen to it, for it reminded me all too much of my dead fiancée and God knew I missed her above all else. Out of everything, her death was what had hurt me the most.

"_Who are you?"_ the double voice asked.

I answered. "Tahu."

"_What are you?"_

I snorted, amused. "I'm dying, that's what." What a weird fever dream to have, but at least it was funny. At least I would go to my death laughing.

The double voice chuckled, both its tones in perfect, yet completely discordant harmony. If I hadn't already been shuddering with the plague, I would have shuddered at its laugh. However, I almost went completely still at what it had to say next.

"_How amusing, a human with a sense of humor...tell me, human, would you like to live?"_

"Of...of course. I don't want to die..."

It took on silky tones now, and looking back, I should have realized that. But stupid idiot that I was, I didn't. The only thing I paid attention to was the voice itself and what it was offering me.

"_We can arrange something, then. A contract of sorts. A bargain, as I believe you humans would say. Would you enter this contract with me?"_

"That depends," I replied. This sure was a realistic dream, though right now I wasn't sure if I was asleep or awake. I could still feel the plague wracking my body, and I could feel the cold floor beneath me, and the wind whistling through the cracks in the walls, so...? "What are you offering? What would I have to give you in return?"

"_Not too much, considering what you'd lose without it..."_ the voice answered. _"Give me your body to call home, and I shall give you life. You will live beyond all of this, immortal and above all the petty trappings of life."_

I was quiet for a minute, but not by choice. Bile was attempting to make its way out of my mouth, and I was having a hard time holding it down. I didn't want to risk it getting caught in my throat and choking me, like I'd seen happen to other plague victims. In my current state, I wouldn't have the strength to hack it all up and it would kill me.

"_Well? What do you say?"_ the demon asked me. _"Will you let me inhabit your body in exchange for immortal life and everything it brings? You had best hurry and choose,"_ it added. _"You will not last long, and it is rather beyond me to bring back the dead."_

"Hold a m-minute," I panted, and it was silent, allowing me to think. I continued to hold the urge to vomit back as I thought. Making a deal with a demon? Everything about my upbringing told me that this was a horrible idea and that I'd regret it instantly. God punished those who gave up their souls to demons, and I'd spend the rest of eternity burning in hell.

But the demon had said I'd be immortal. Above the trappings of life. I wouldn't have to worry about death or eternal damnation if I did this. My family would have cast me out if they knew that I was even considering this - and if the church got a hold of this knowledge, the best I could hope for was an immediate death sentence.

My fiancée...she'd hate me too. She had loved God probably more than she loved me, and knowing that I was approached by a demon would kill her. Had she not already been dead, of course.

"What else?" I asked. "Why do you need my body? What would you do with it?"

"_Inhabit it,"_ the demon said. _"It would still be yours, human...but you would have to use it for what I wish, on occasion. I will be nothing but a little voice in your head, and that which keeps you immortal."_

"And...and what would you wish me to do with you in it?"

"_Chaos. Absolute chaos and destruction."_ it said, and I could hear its smile even though I couldn't see it. _"It will be an occasional thing, I promise...it will still be your body, no matter what happens."_

Immortality. Elongated life. The chance to get revenge on all the bastards who'd done this to me, who'd taken my family and my fiancée and the people who'd housed me away from me. And curiosity. God, I was curious. I wanted to know what would happen, even as something in me still held back.

Curiosity was the main driving force behind it all. I admit that freely now.

"Alright!" I choked out. The contents of my stomach were really threatening to come up now, and I knew it'd be too late within seconds. "I agree! I'll make that bargain with you!"

"_Excellent!"_ the demon hissed in its dual voice, and suddenly, something hot and humid and metallic-tasting entered my mouth. It shot through my body at that, and I screamed. It hurt. I could keep the bile down no longer, and I choked and gagged on it.

As I had expected, I was too weak to force it all out once it came up, and I could rapidly feel myself suffocating on it. I couldn't breathe, and in my panic I began to thrash.

"_Be still, human,"_ the demon said, but this time, its voice came from _within_ me, in my mind. _"I shall need to dispel this ridiculous illness from you. My apologies"_ -that didn't _sound_ very apologetic- _"but use of your body is necessary."_

I blacked out a moment later, and when I came to, I was standing in the middle of a burning village. It took me a moment to regain my bearings, but when I did, all I could do was feel shocked.

"_Well? Do you like it?"_ the demon asked, and I could feel his amusement. _"You were screaming too loudly, and those idiots that came to investigate decided to put you out of your misery. I merely took action to prevent this."_

Fire. Fire everywhere. I had never known before that demons came in specific types, nor that that I was a candidate for possession, but I now for real knew that I had a demon within me and that this particular demon was of the fire element.

I swallowed heavily, looking out at the destruction around me. Chaos and destruction, he'd told me. That was what he'd require of me, along with sharing my body.

Instinctively, I knew that he'd left nothing in this village alive.

This was what I had gotten myself into. But I liked it. I liked what he had done with my body as his vessel. I could only think of what I could do with this power against everything that had hurt me before, and at least for right then, I was happy that I'd chosen to enter that bargain with the demon.

"What is your name?" I asked.

"_Teridax."_ he replied. _"I am Teridax."_

I smiled and turned back to the fire and destruction around me. It was absolutely beautiful. What an amazing choice I'd made.

That was over four hundred years ago, and I regret it bitterly now.

* * *

**AN: Yup, yup. Also planned out for that one was Gali (your average high school girl who manages to get herself mixed up in all this), Kopaka (skinny altar boy / exorcist-in-training who makes it his personal duty to prove himself by killing Tahu), Onua (Gali's best friend and history expert), Pohatu (Kopaka's happy-go-lucky fellow exorcist-in-training), and Lewa (maniacally happy and possibly also possessed by a demon - Icarax, as it were).**

**Haha. Also, please forgive any discrepancies with history and the like. As a history nerd, I know I took a few liberties. I also took out a lot of the details on the plague itself, as my knowledge on it was and still is fairly sketchy. Probably the scariest thing about it is that it's unknown what caused it to resurge so many damn times. Hopefully it doesn't happen again in my lifetime.**

**Anyway, the reason I never went anywhere with this one is because...well, I really had no clue what I wanted to do with it. I was going for some kind of "guy makes a mistake and makes a deal with a demon but then regrets it and tries to repent" thing, but it turned out to be kind of lame. Bah.**


	5. APWT: Dogfight

**This, as some of you may know, was supposed to be put somewhere in one of the future chapters of A Path Well Traveled. It may still be in there someday, if I ever get my motivation for that fic back. Hopefully, hopefully...**

**Disclaimer: I own only that which you don't recognize as canon. And even those may actually belong to someone else. Bionicle and all associated canon characters are property of LEGO.**

**Summary: Icarax vs. Gorast, over bragging rights. Or something. Whatever it is, Silarial wants no part of it. Telerahk, meanwhile, rather takes to the role of cheerleader.**

**Pairing: Very slight Icarax/Silarial**

**The Unresolved Casefiles  
****No. 5: Excerpt from _A Path Well Traveled_  
****_Chapter ?: Dogfight_  
****By: Bahamut PURE (formerly Saya Moonshadow)**

Icarax had always counted himself as someone who had always known what he wanted, aka, total domination. He wanted domination of the Brotherhood, and domination of the world after that. A universe where he was king and master...that was his ultimate dream.

But beyond that, his wants were beginning to conflict. Physical contact with another being had never been in there, unless it involved him punching or otherwise hurting the other party, but wanting to just touch someone else?

It simply didn't compute.

No, he decided, it wasn't that he wanted to touch the brat. It was that he wanted to chase her down and force her to tell him just what in the world was going on and why she was acting so strangely.

First off, why was she thinking about his body? He frowned, looking down at himself for a moment as he prowled around the fortress restlessly, still dripping wet from his impromptu visit to the washroom. It was average, as far as Makuta went, although he supposed he did make a rather intimidating figure. Maybe she was just more of a nervous wreck than he thought. Then again, that didn't quite explain why she was also thinking of his voice with an almost reverent tone.

_Clean thoughts..._

Clean thoughts? What did she mean by "clean thoughts"?

The voice in the back of his mind had an answer for him, as it usually did, but it wasn't one he was particularly willing to accept. There was no way Teridax's little brat of a daughter was thinking THAT kind of thing about him. She probably didn't even know the basics of it, much less what it actually was. Besides, did she honestly think he would even CONSIDER that kind of contact with her? It was borderline ludicrous.

And yet, holding onto her and having her pressed against him had been one of the most exhilarating things that had ever happened to him. Even when she was helping him with that tune-up, it was still terrible and yet pleasing at the same time. The feeling of her hands on his chest was both disconcerting and strangely nice.

He was still lost in his thoughts when he quite literally bumped into a green shape, giving out a growl when it retaliated by slashing him across the arm with sharp claws.

"Watch it," Gorast snapped. "You could kill someone with that fat frame of yours."

Icarax frowned, brushing a hand over the slashes in his arm and healing them. "Fat yourself, Gorast. Just because I'm bigger than you doesn't make me fat. In fact, you could do with some bulking up. What is it with you females and being so small?"

She snorted, ignoring the last part of his rebuttal. Being smaller than most of the males in the organization hadn't been a hindrance in her quest to be the most feared creature in the South, nor would it likely ever. "You're fat, you moron. Even the little one'd agree to THAT."

For some reason, the thought of Silarial thinking such a thing about him was infuriating, and he relieved his anger by taking a swipe at the Tren Krom Makuta. Faster than the average eye could follow, he caught Gorast a glancing blow that threw her into the wall.

Just as she rose, snarling, another voice cut through the air, this time telepathically. _"What are you fools doing?"_ Vamprah asked disdainfully, silver wings folding behind his blue body. _"You know the rules; there is to be no fighting within the fortress beyond the training room."_

"She called me fat," Icarax snapped, right as Gorast bit out, "He HIT me!"

Vamprah shook his head, still frowning. _"You are both acting like children. Allow me to settle this childishness. Icarax is on the large side, though not fat, and Gorast deserved the hit for pointing this out in such a blunt manner. Are you satisfied now?"_

The real answer was "no", but neither Gorast nor Icarax were foolish enough to pursue the matter when Teridax could so easily be reached. The Brotherhood's leader tolerated no nonsense from his minions when it came to the fortress rules, particularly not his two most ruthless and troublemaking underlings.

Gorast grunted, turning away, though her eyes burned angrily still. "Whatever. No time to deal with either of you; I'm thirsty."

_"I'll make sure to leave the toilet seat up,"_ Vamprah said dryly, then abruptly vanished when she whipped out her Nynrah Ghost Blaster and shot the space he'd been in only a half-second earlier. Shaking with rage, the green Makuta vanished also, obviously gone to search for the blue one to take revenge for the insult.

Icarax snorted, though he couldn't deny that he was both amused and relieved. _"Shall I get the bulls-eye and attach it to your face?"_ he transmitted to Vamprah, feeling the Odina Makuta's own vague smugness.

That was one less problem he had to deal with, then...

_"I heard that,"_ Gorast growled through telepathy, _"and I hereby challenge you to a match. Meet me in the training room in five minutes."_

_"I'd really prefer not to have it torn up again so soon just after we got it fixed,"_ he replied dryly. _"Make it outside in ten, and you have a deal."_

_"Fine!"_ she snapped, and the telepathic connection was gone.

He snorted again; no matter that Gorast had been created a full year or so before him, she was still as immature as a child when it came to her anger. She would never learn, it seemed, if 90,000 years weren't enough for her to do so already.

_"Are you going to meet her in combat?"_ Vamprah asked from wherever he was. _"This would be unwise. She is in quite the bad mood."_

_"So? It's nothing I haven't dealt with before."_

_"True,"_ Vamprah conceded, _"but nonetheless, you are still a fool."_

Without even bothering to respond, Icarax terminated that connection as well. This battle with Gorast was just what he needed to take his mind off of recent dealings, and he intended to utilize it to its fullest potential. Along with putting that green upstart in her place, but that was a given.

* * *

As usual, Silarial had gone outside for the rest of the day, knowing that most of the others would be too busy with their various duties and missions to bother with her. The sunlight was dim, as it always was on Destral, for which she was grateful. Though more tolerant towards light than most others of her species, it was still uncomfortable. The only thing that propelled her to go outside on Voya Nui, where the sunlight was always harsh, was pure curiosity. And even then, for the first century or so, she had usually chickened out and scurried back into the door chamber to explore the many caves branching off from it.

She wandered through the roiling mass of Visorak and Rahkshi, stopping to release her leg every so often when an over-eager pair of pincers would clamp around it. Visorak were such odd creatures; anything that moved was fair game as food for them. A growl escaped her as an Oohnorak almost took a chunk out of her leg, and she kicked out at it reflexively, hitting it in the face and breaking a few of its teeth.

_"So-so-so-sorry,"_ it hissed in Chirox's voice, and backed up. Silarial glanced at it before moving on. What odd creatures the Oohnorak were, even among Visorak, possessing the ability to mimic the voices and speech of other creatures. Though that one might be having a little trouble speaking from now on.

She smiled slightly. Weaker than most Makuta she may have been, but she was still capable of defending herself.

She was preparing to enter her usual cave to explore further (and wait for Vamprah to come and drag her out, as he always did), when a loud screech rent the air, making her wince and look up. As she had expected, it was a Rahkshi, though not one of her father's. From the looks of it, this was one of Gorast's, and she grimaced and promptly moved out of its line of vision. While no Rahkshi would dare attack a Makuta directly, it was always a good idea to steer clear of any creation of Gorast's.

However, she perked up when it began screeching again, calling all other Rahkshi in the area.

_"Brothers!"_ the Fulgorahk shouted, _"To the fortress! Mistress Gorast has just informed me of a wonderful display of power that is to take place! Mistress versus Sir Icarax!"_

Disregarding her usual rule of avoiding Gorast and her creations, Silarial shouted out, "Fulgorahk! Attend me!" to the jubilant Rahkshi.

To her mild surprise, it listened to her, though it practically divebombed her as it came to land. _"Yes, Miss Silarial?"_ it asked. _"What is it that you wish from me?"_

She bit her lip before saying, _"Is it true? Is Icarax really going to fight your mistress?"_

The Fulgorahk nodded eagerly, proud of its creator, as all Rahkshi inherently were. _"Yessss, indeed! Mistress will show him who is the superior one!"_

"But...but WHY are they fighting?"

The silver Rahkshi squinted against the light glinting off her armor, though it was relieved to note that the suns would be going down soon. _"He insulted Mistress's honor, Miss Silarial. Mistress will not allow him to challenge her honor without fightin' back."_ It snickered.

Silarial found she had to agree with its statement, although her mind whirled. Icarax and Gorast were fighting? What had brought this on? It was no secret that they didn't get along (Gorast got along with no one other than her own Rahkshi and Teridax), but this was new.

_"I have been instructed to gather all my brothers to watch,"_ the Rahkshi of Chain Lightning went on. _"Am I expected to gather the rest as well, to be fair?"_

Not for the first time, Silarial was reminded of her own failed attempts at making a kraata. It had been in the privacy of the caves, where the shadows were plentiful and she could feed off of their power, but even so, it was still excruciatingly painful and had drained the vast majority of her energy. And her attempt had been nothing more than an attempt; her creation had been weak and pitiful in the few moments that it lived. Too exhausted to do anything else, she had curled up around the tiny thing and passed out. When she awoke, Vamprah was kneeling over her, and her kraata was gone. It was dead then, she knew, and the realization was terrible.

Vamprah had carried her back to the fortress, up to her room, while she babbled at him in a delirious haze that he couldn't tell anyone, particularly not her father, and he had agreed, probably for the sake of getting her to stop talking and rest. And curse him, it had worked. Though he had kept his promise - he had told no one. The only other who knew besides them was Icarax, and he had found it more funny than concerning.

Unfortunately, that event had sapped her powers, and even though they were slowly starting to come back, her current state served as nothing more than a reminder of that broken, gasping little thing that she had cradled as it died because she was unable to sustain it properly. Just the thought made her innards twist. It hadn't deserved to die like that, feeble and in pain. At least it hadn't been alone...

_"Miss?"_ The hiss broke her out of her guilty thoughts, and Silarial started.

"Huh?"

_"I said, am I expected to gather the rest as well, to be fair?"_ the Fulgorahk repeated.

Silarial nodded, shaking off the last vestiges of that awful memory. "Um, yes, do that. But don't start any fights."

The Chain Lightning Rahkshi dipped its head respectfully, though it looked disappointed. _"Yes, Miss."_ And it sped off to find its own brothers and Icarax's various Rahkshi.

Silarial sighed, wishing once again that she wasn't such a weakling. If she were just a little bit stronger, she could have made that kraata, could have sustained it, and perhaps could have borrowed one from her father to make her kraata's Rahkshi armor from. And she would have a Rahkshi of her own making, instead of being forced to make do with her father's horde all the time.

Ah well. Shadrahk and the others were good company, if not intensely aggravating most of the time. When she got her powers back, she would begin training harder, and when the time was right...

She smiled.

When the time was right, she would make her own kraata, and that alone would show the others in the organization that she wasn't just a weakling.

* * *

Like his lieutenant, Teridax counted himself as something, and patient was one of the many somethings. However, his patience was for plans, not for unruly minions. And unfortunately for him, it seemed most of his creations were naturally unruly, though just how they had gotten that way was beyond him. Perhaps the creations of his fellow Makuta were rubbing off on them...

But patience aside, how long was he supposed to put up with the sounds of screeching Rahkshi? It had ceased to be annoying long ago, crossing into the boundaries of anger.

_"Shadrahk!"_ he snapped, feeling his Shadow Rahkshi give a start. _"What is that infernal racket?"_

_"Sir Icarax and Lady Gorast are having a battle outside,"_ Shadrahk explained. _"Do you wish for me to have them stop? My apologies, Master, I will-"_

The rest of his creation's words fell upon deaf ears. Icarax and Gorast were fighting? They hadn't had a battle in over a century, what in the world would cause them to have another one all of a sudden? Perhaps they were just bored...

Teridax snorted. Boredom was more than a suitable excuse for Gorast to attempt to maim something. Icarax, though, was usually a little more patient than the green female. Though, even the black-and-red Makuta could be goaded every now and again.

_"No, Shadrahk,"_ he interrupted his creation. _"Report to me when the battle is done. I want to hear the details."_

_"Yes, Master,"_ Shadrahk replied dutifully. _"By the way, Master, I fear we have lost track of our sister. Forgive me, although I shall accept my punishment gracefully."_

Teridax frowned. His daughter, while certainly not the average Makuta, had been acting even stranger than usual lately. Although her behavior did not usually concern him too badly, the way she had been skirting about the last couple weeks was bothering him. For perhaps the millionth time, he wished he could know what was going on in her head at all times, but this was impossible. Makuta guarded their privacy fiercely, and his Silarial was no exception to the rule. Nor did he have any wish to alienate her by reading her mind without permission. Besides, this would probably just turn out to be one of her little quirks, but until then, he was going to have her under constant surveillance. _"She is probably hiding in the caves again. Send some of your brothers to find her while you watch the battle."_

_"Yes, Master. Shadrahk out."_

The connection was dropped, and Teridax leaned back in his seat, glancing distastefully at the old book he had been studying when he was interrupted by the noise outside. Dusty old tome, and dry-toned to boot. There was nothing he hated more than a dry tone; beings with no personality were worthless to him. They had no drive, which was what he needed. Even Icarax, as treacherous as he had a tendency to be, was infinitely more useful than a drone because of the force of his personality.

He also had to admit that he was in a bad mood because of the realization that harnessing the power the book described would in no way be easy. From what he was gathering, it would take an inordinate amount of energy, perhaps more than even he possessed alone.

Closing the book, Teridax gazed about disgruntedly. The shrieks were still coming from outside, although they had doubled in volume as more Rahkshi arrived at the scene. He snorted. The "battle" was really nothing more than the posturing of two Gukkos, he was sure. Icarax always was much too vain for his own good, too willing to show off...

Then again, most males were like that, though Gorast seemed to be a rare female example. She liked showing her power off more than most of the male Makuta did, which was amusing.

Although, an inordinate amount of Icarax's posturing seemed to come about when his Silarial was around. Teridax frowned. He was not blind to the effect a female could have on a male, but there was no way Icarax would be stupid enough to try anything with HIS daughter.

_I should have made her a male,_ he groused to himself, but while creating her, the thought of having a son had never crossed his mind. It had been there all along that he wanted her to be female. Perhaps he had been unconsciously trying to balance out the obvious broken male-to-female ratio of their species.

Hm. Well, it wasn't _his_ fault that the rest of the female Makuta had chosen to side with Miserix and thus been slaughtered by Gorast. Had they been smart, they would have chosen his side, and then he wouldn't be stuck with the problem of an unruly sociopath and a daughter that liked forcing his Rahkshi to wear ribbons on occasion.

Nor would he be forced to worry about the effect said daughter might end up having on his lieutenants someday. This, he had to admit, was the most troublesome of everything about Silarial. Though, so far there had been a total of zero attempts. If there had been, he would have found out about it by now.

And the offender would _die._

Sitting back in his chair, Teridax allowed a sigh to escape him as he scanned the book again. This certainly boded some thought. Should he seek that power or leave it alone? He had dealt with Mata Nui shortly after being released by Roodaka, and the Great Spirit wouldn't be waking up from that forced coma any time soon. Nor did he have to worry about any of the more annoying agents of the Order of Mata Nui coming after him just yet. At most, they'd probably send Botar, who was certainly troublesome, but would be easily taken care of should it come down to that. Perhaps he would let Mutran and Chirox keep him as a test subject...

* * *

Shoving her way through the crowd of Rahkshi, all of whom were just a little shorter than she was, Silarial scanned the area for a pair of familiar green and black-and-red forms. Nothing so far...oh! Here came Gorast, actually-

The other female Makuta certainly looked like she was anticipating the upcoming fight, Silarial thought. Battle was what Gorast lived for, after all. And woe betide the unlucky fool who tried to get in the way of that.

"Where is he?" Gorast yelled over the din of the screeching Rahkshi. "He's late!"

Icarax's foremost Rahkshi, a blue-and-green one called Telerahk, replied, "He's told me to tell ya that he'll be out shortly, Lady Gorast." Currently, the Teleportation Rahkshi was the only one of Icarax's twenty-five or so creations that had advanced to a Stage Seven kraata and gained the power of actual speech. Unfortunately, he had also inherited several of Icarax's personality quirks, including, it seemed, the inability to be polite unless forced to be by a higher power. This was highlighted by the grin on his snout a second later. "Why, so eager to lose already?"

"Insolent worm!"

The Telerahk just barely managed to teleport quick enough to avoid the bolt of pure energy Gorast shot at him, and reappeared up in the air, flying in circles and laughing madly. Well, no one ever said the Rahkshi were _sane_, but...

"Telerahk!" came a familiar voice, and Silarial jumped almost guiltily as her father's Shadrahk came flying around the building, a scowl on his face. "What in Destral's name do you think you're doing?"

Telerahk shrugged, landing lightly on his feet. "Just having some fun, Shadrahk. You might want to try it out sometime."

The huge double doors to the fortress opened, and out stepped Icarax. He blinked at the sight of Gorast aiming her blaster at his favorite Rahkshi and that of Teridax's Shadrahk standing in front of a very nervous-looking Silarial and glaring at said favorite Rahkshi of his, but quickly shook it off and barked out, "What's going on here?"

"Boss!" Telerahk yelled cheerfully, waving at him. "Just gettin' started for ya!"

With creations like him around, it was really no wonder Icarax always seemed to have so much conflict with other members of the Brotherhood, Silarial thought. That Telerahk lived to stir up trouble, the more dynamic, the better. And what was worse, he got away with it almost all the time. Her father would have _never_ let any of _his_ Rahkshi (or Silarial herself, she had to admit) get away with _half_ the things that Telerahk got up to.

Icarax grinned at the blue-and-green Rahkshi, confirming her thoughts, "Thoughtful of you, but not needed." His eyes narrowed as he shifted one foot forward into a battle-ready position, staring at Gorast's sneering face. "I'm perfectly capable of swatting flies by myself, Telerahk."

His assembled Rahkshi broke out into hysterical laughter at this, though Gorast's all looked less than amused, as did Gorast herself. With a snarl, she threw herself at the black-and-red Makuta, and the fight was on.

Even Silarial had smiled a bit at that one, he noticed, though Shadrahk had merely frowned. The knowledge that she found it funny goaded him on, and it was with great pleasure that he hit Gorast in the face with several bolts of electricity, causing her to yell and swipe at him, her vision momentarily obscured.

"GET 'ER, BOSS!" Telerahk hollered over the raucous shrieks of his brothers. "Show 'er who's, er, boss 'round here!" He was promptly smacked in the face with a staff by one of Gorast's Rahkshi and leaped upon the offender, declaring war as they tumbled to the ground.

Quickly, before the rest of them got the wrong idea (and started a massacre; Gorast's creations outnumbered Icarax's by at least ten), Silarial reached out and grabbed Telerahk, dragging him off of the other Rahkshi. "Stop that!" she snapped at it as it rose to try and fight again. "Go to the back! Go on! Go!"

It hissed at her, but shuffled through the crowd as instructed.

"Nice of ya to do that," Telerahk grinned up her from where he lay suspended in her arms. "'Preciate it, though like the Boss says, I can swat flies by myself."

Silarial rolled her eyes and hauled him to his feet. "You're welcome, but I only did it so all the others wouldn't start a riot too. Whatever goes on between you Rahkshi is your own business."

"Yeah, Master Teridax wouldn't be too happy 'bout that, would he?" Telerahk asked absentmindedly, cheering as his creator managed to sidestep yet another of Gorast's attacks. "Neither would my boss or Lady Gorast; we'd be stealin' their limelight and all that..."

There was a roar from Icarax that drew their attention, and suddenly Telerahk was in the air again, shouting encouragement to his injured master. Icarax, for his part, ignored the smoking hole that had just been blasted through his leg and unfurled the wings on his back. They flapped, and Gorast staggered from the surge of wind that shot at her, knocking her off balance.

They circled, eyeing each other warily, Gorast with rage and Icarax leaning on his uninjured leg. That had to hurt, Silarial thought as she looked at the still smoking hole. And it had gotten his upper thigh, too. It would be difficult for him to maneuver from now on with that.

He didn't bother healing it - overconfident perhaps, she thought, but if Gorast could deal with having the elbow of her left arm bent the wrong way, then he could deal with his own injury. "Ready to give up yet?" he asked, and Gorast's glare changed to a snarl.

"Funny, I was about to ask the same thing!" she growled, and raised her Nynrah Ghost Blaster. He howled with rage and pain as the projectile blasted a hole through his upper left wing and leapt at her, swinging his Twin Blade. She darted back, but not quickly enough - the fingers on her injured arm were suddenly gone, to hit the ground a moment later.

"MY HAND!" she screeched, flailing at him with her blaster.

"They are fighting like Rahi," Shadrahk said, and Silarial frowned at him.

"Huh?"

"This isn't anywhere near what either of them are actually capable of," he informed her. "They're not using any of their usual tactics or techniques - just rolling in the dirt like Visorak fighting over a scrap of meat. It's disgraceful."

"Well...it's just a duel, isn't it?" she asked anxiously, watching Icarax grab Gorast by her injured hand and flip her over his shoulder to slam her into the ground with a loud THUD that made the onlookers wince. "So there's no reason for them to go all out..."

She was distracted as the Telerahk suddenly 'ported himself right onto her shoulders, almost falling over as he wrapped his legs around her neck for support and shouted, "C'MON, BOSS, SHOW HER WHAT YOU GOT ALREADY!" His brothers screeched in support, while Gorast's shrieked encouragement for their mistress.

Silarial managed to regain her balance with Shadrahk's help and grabbed Telerahk's leg, tugging at him. He almost fell off and glared down at her. "'Scuse me, but I'm busy here!"

"I can see that," she snapped. "But I'm not a chair. Go sit somewhere else!"

"Nah, this is better," he said distractedly, and she fumed. "Besides, the Boss'll look over here first after he's won, and that's what we want!"

"What?" she asked, confused.

"Duh," he said, rolling his eyes at her and shifting to a more comfortable position on her shoulders. He had to grin at this - it was just like what he had heard; she had no sense of authority whatsoever. The extent of her control over them went to ordering unruly ones like the Chamelerahk that had attacked him back into line. "Be the first one that the Boss goes to after his fight! Means we get the spoils of war!"

"This is a duel with no defined prize at the end," Shadrahk snapped. "There will BE no spoils of war. Unless you want Lady Gorast's severed fingers?"

Telerahk shuddered. "Uh, no. Whaddaya take me for? I don't know where those've been - YEAH!" Silarial staggered as he bounced suddenly, riveted back on the fight. "THAT'S IT, BOSS! FINISH 'ER OFF!"

The young female Makuta regained her balance once more, moved the Rahkshi's hands so they no longer covered her eyes, and gasped. Both the combatants now looked rather the worse for wear; three of Icarax's wings flopped uselessly, broken and shot through with holes, and his right leg dragged painfully. Gorast's left forearm was missing, currently being cradled in the arms of her Fulgorahk, her right arm was broken, and she had several deep gashes on her body from being sliced at with the Twin Blade.

"Wh-who's going to win?" Silarial asked concernedly, to which Telerahk snorted, "My Boss, of course!"

"I expect it'll be a draw," Shadrahk said at the same time, earning a glare from the Teleport Rahkshi. "They've both used a lot of energy, and neither is willing to back down yet. Lady Gorast cannot use her Ghost Blaster or her hands at all, and Sir Icarax cannot run or fly. They are reduced to using their powers now."

He spoke truly - as soon as the words were out of his mouth, Gorast opened her mouth and spat a large ball of fire straight at the black-and-red Makuta, which was blocked. He shook his burned hands, extinguishing the small flames that still clung to them, and shot a bolt of chain lightning at her in reply.

Another block, and a bolt of pure Darkness flew from her mouth this time. It hit Icarax head-on and engulfed him for a minute.

"BOSS!" Telerahk hollered, his cry echoed in the screeches of his brothers. Silarial gasped and clutched at his legs, fingers digging into them and making him yelp, but she paid no attention.

"I-Icarax!" she cried.

She needn't have worried, she saw a second later. His remaining useful wing flapped and seemed to blow the dark away from himself. And there he stood, a little more tired but smirking - and glowing with the power of Limited Invulnerability.

"Good thing I remembered this," he remarked as his Rahkshi cheered. "Otherwise that blast might've taken me out."

Gorast snarled angrily at him. "You won't be so lucky as soon as that runs out!" She spat another ball of fire at him, which merely bounced off him in his current untouchable state.

All too soon, though, the glow of Invulnerability began to fade. Ordinarily, it would have lasted longer, but if he kept it up, it would be a waste of valuable energy and he needed all the energy he could get.

It was time to start thinking about how he would end this.

A plan was just beginning to formulate when Gorast opened her mouth and a horrible, high-pitched screech rang out, unending. Icarax shouted, clapping his hands over his ears and unconsciously trying to take a step back. His injured leg buckled, and he fell forward, though thankfully he managed to land on his knees.

"MAKE IT STOP!" Telerahk howled, tearing at his carapace. Inside of it, his kraata was writhing in pain, trying to do anything to get away from that horrible noise. And he wasn't the only one. The rest of the assembled Rahkshi - which thankfully did not include a Xefonirahk Power Screamer as well, otherwise it would have been much worse - were doing the same. "IT HURTS! MAKE IT STOP!"

Silarial tried to keep a grip on him as well as cover her own ears at the same time, failing miserably at it. Though she managed to keep her own yells in, she found she agreed with Telerahk - it hurt. Badly. Her armor felt like it was about to explode from the sound resonating in the air...

The Power Scream intensified in pitch and volume as Gorast moved towards her prey, a triumphant gleam in her eye.

The Tren Krom Makuta's gaze was locked on her opponent, who was kneeling in front of her, his hands clamped over his ears, eyes screwed shut, and wings flapping uselessly against the pain. As she continued screaming, she began to charge up for another elemental attack, one that would put an end to this duel.

Electrocution should do nicely, she decided, and closed her mouth to prepare-

And suddenly Icarax's eyes snapped open and he threw himself into her, knocking them both to the ground. She howled and kicked, arms useless, preparing to unleash another Power Scream-

"Oh no you don't," he growled, shoving his hand into her mouth and grimacing when she bit him. His other hand held her chest down as she struggled and lashed out. A growl burst out of him when she kicked him, landing several blows to his sides before he quickly reached behind her and flipped her over, shoving his uninjured knee into her back and kneeling on the backs of her legs. She screeched, her mouth now free, but before she could begin another Power Scream, he shoved her head forward, muffling her with the ground.

"Someone begin a countdown!" he shouted, glaring at the two Stage Seven Rahkshi, blinking a bit when he saw his Telerahk perched on the shoulders of the Makuta of Voya Nui. What on Destral-?

Obediently, Shadrahk raced forward, knelt by the still-thrashing Gorast, and began to count. "Five! Four! Three! Two-"

Gorast shrieked and with one powerful heave almost managed to throw Icarax off of herself, but was pinned back down again at the last second.

"...and ONE!" Shadrahk cried. "Sir Icarax wins!"

He darted back to the throng of Rahkshi as Icarax leapt off of the raging green Makuta, scrambling backwards to get away from her. She rose, spitting out chunks of the earth, then with another enraged screech, teleported herself away with a _pop_. Silence.

Icarax's Rahkshi went wild, rearing their heads back and screeching their triumph to the sky. "HE WON, HE WON, HE WON!" Telerahk roared, shaking Silarial's shoulders. She swayed dangerously, trying to regain her balance and failing without Shadrahk to help her.

"I know, Telerahk, but if you don't stop shaking - AHH! WHOA!" She pitched forward, Telerahk leaping off of her shoulders at the last second and racing over to his master, who was sitting on the ground and looking exhausted.

"BOSS!" he cried, skidding to a halt in front of his creator. "YOU DID IT! YOU BEAT HER!" Laughing, he clapped Icarax on the back.

All three of the Karzahni Makuta's injured wings stood straight up as they were aggravated, and Icarax snarled and shoved his creation away from himself with an angry, "Be _careful_, you idiot mealworm!"

Over Telerahk's babbled apologies, the rest of his Rahkshi had begun to celebrate in full, still screeching and doing what could best be described as dancing, paying no attention whatsoever to Gorast's Rahkshi, all of whom were beginning to vacate the area disgruntedly.

Shadrahk searched the crowd for his "sibling", finally spotting her lying facedown on the ground. With some amusement, he knelt by her and poked her in the shoulder. "Sister?"

She mumbled something.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I said," she said, lifting her head and spitting out some dirt just as Gorast had, "the novelty of you guys is really starting to wear off."

He grinned and offered her a hand with which to pull herself up. She took it and let him tug her to her feet, shaking her head to regain her bearings. Her eyes fell on Icarax and Telerahk, who was now bowing fervently to his master and still apologizing. She had to marvel at just how Icarax managed to look so regal and disdainful while sitting on the ground, completely banged up and his four of his appendages shot through with holes.

His head turned, and their eyes locked, his narrowing when he saw her. He made to get up, but was unable to when his injured leg wouldn't let him.

Oh, great. She had to get out of here, and fast, before he chased her down and demanded an explanation for earlier. Mumbling something to Shadrahk, she darted off and disappeared back into the fortress, searching for a hiding place. Unless she was mistaken, Vamprah or whoever would shortly be out to survey the mess, and would then drag Icarax to Mutran and Chirox to fix up. His energy levels were low after that fight with Gorast, especially after using the power of Limited Invulnerability. That one was easily the most draining to use.

So for now, it was time to hide...at least until he was safely in the lab and being worked on by a less-than-sympathetic scientist. And then it would be safe for her to roam around again. She darted into the training room, passing a bored-looking Krika, and busied herself rearranging the test dummies into a barrier around her.

* * *

**AN: Another excerpt from this fic coming up sometime later, as that one is a good thirty-ish pages long and this chapter would be just _slightly_ too long if I put them together. So you get them separately. Haha.**

**I seriously love Telerahk. He just kind of popped out of nowhere in my imagination one day, but then he refused to leave and so earned himself a place in my headcanon. Someday I want to write something on his coping with his master's death or something like that.**

**I've always seen Vamprah as having a very dry wit. It rarely makes an appearance, but when it does, something usually ends up getting blown up or someone loses at least an arm.**

**Sorry for neglecting my writing lately, guys. Life's been busy. Got a job and now spend about thirteen hours, give or take, out of the house each day. Having to wake up at 5:30 each weekday in order to make it to work on time is killer.**

**Please tell me what you think!**


	6. APWT: Search, Rescue, and Destroy

**And the second piece of _A Path Well Traveled_. This could easily be its own thing, though, which I sort of treat it as. Just because it's so long and really has nothing to do with the main story. Consider it a sidestory or something, haha.**

**Disclaimer: I own only that which you don't recognize as canon. And even those may actually belong to someone else. Bionicle and all associated canon characters are property of LEGO.**

**Summary: Lava pits, lost travelers, and chatty Rahkshi. There is absolutely no way that this could possibly go wrong, right? Sure, we'll go with that...**

**Pairing: Some Icarax/Silarial**

**The Unresolved Casefiles  
****No. 6: Excerpt from _A Path Well Traveled_  
****_Chapter ?: Search, Rescue, and Destroy_  
****By: Bahamut PURE (formerly Saya Moonshadow)**

Icarax's Rahkshi were a pain, Silarial thought miserably.

It wasn't that they hated her; no, quite the opposite. It was that, much like her father's younger Rahkshi, she couldn't get them to leave her alone. Having managed to evade the rest of them, she was soon intercepted again by Telerahk, who jovially explained that whoever was good enough for the Boss was good enough for them when she snapped at him to go away or she'd tell his aforementioned master, so she'd better get used to it from now on.

"C'mon!" the blue-and-green Rahkshi whined, trailing after her as she stomped towards her usual cave, where she'd been hoping for some quiet time. "You can't hate us that much!"

"Why," Silarial asked, whirling around to face him, noting with dissatisfaction that she was only an inch or so taller than he was (Destral, no wonder he didn't listen to a word she said), "are you following me in the first place? I'm not your master, so go bother him!"

He pointed at the kraata resting on her shoulder, one of Teridax's newest ones. "You're letting _him_ go with you, and he's not yours either!"

She rolled her eyes. This particular kraata was rather whiny as well and steadfastly refused to be parted from her. And rather than have it try to follow her and get eaten or stepped on by a Visorak, she'd relented and allowed it to come along. "He's one of my father's. Therefore, he gets to come. You don't. Go away."

Telerahk opened his mouth to argue further, but froze when the crunch of gravel being stepped on came from behind him. He teleported behind Silarial just as a dark blue hand reached for him, presumably to grab him and toss him aside.

"Uh...hey, Sir Vamprah!" he said in a falsely cheerful voice, gripping the female Makuta's shoulders and almost dislodging the tiny kraata there as he jerked her in front of him. "And how are you this fine day? Me, oh, I'm fine, sir, no need to ask, just out here enjoyin' a stroll with Miss 'Rial and her little brother-"

Silarial cocked an eyebrow ridge at the babbling Rahkshi. So Telerahk was afraid of Vamprah? Hm, this ought to be interesting...

Were all of Icarax's Rahkshi scared of him? If so, she just may have found a solution to the problem of them following her everywhere.

"...hello." she said when she realized the blue Makuta was staring at her expectantly.

He nodded at her, communicating mentally, as always. _"You are not in the caves for once."_

She scowled behind her at Telerahk, who flashed a sheepish grin. "I got tied up."

Vamprah frowned, and Telerahk gulped. This was the only other Makuta besides his own master and Teridax that he and his brothers feared, and only then because of the overall aura that the blue Makuta gave off. He had no idea how Vamprah's own Rahkshi - who were admittedly rather few and far between - put up with having him as their master.

_"Is he bothering you?"_ Vamprah asked Silarial, who stiffened up. His right hand flexed. _"I can eliminate him if so."_

Telerahk let out a loud screech and ducked behind her again.

"Um, no, that won't be necessary," she laughed nervously, shuddering as he looked at her. Creepy glare! Forget the Rahkshi being afraid of him, right now she was sharing the sentiment. "He was just, uh, offering to escort me through the caves."

In a manner of speaking, that was true, she thought - it was just a very polite way to say that he had been following her around all day and refusing to go away even when threatened.

"And besides," she said, "if you kill him, Icarax will, uh, come after you, so, uh...yeah. It's not needed."

Vamprah reached out, and she and Telerahk both flinched. Though, instead of touching either of them, he merely shoved the kraata, who had dozed off and was about to fall, back into position on her shoulder. Her mask heated up with embarrassment as he retracted his arm, and Telerahk glanced at her as he noticed the sudden spike in temperature. He cocked his head, filing the information away for later.

"Uh...th-thanks," she laughed nervously, reaching up to pat the sleepy kraata herself. "I-I-I-I didn't even notice-"

_"It is fine."_ Vamprah said shortly, and turned to leave. _"How long will you be out here?"_ If he was right, then she hadn't even been in the caves yet, and usually by this time he was dragging her out of them.

"Um..." She thought. "A few hours. Why? Is Father looking for me?"

_"No."_ And that seemed to be all he had to say; he turned to leave. _"Very well then. I shall see you on the morrow."_

"Bye." she murmured as he vanished into thin air, teleporting somewhere else. A gasp escaped her throat and the little kraata was almost dislodged once again as Telerahk wrapped his long arms around her chest and squeezed her, nuzzling her neck gratefully.

"G-get off!"

"See, you _must_ like me if you protect me like that!" he said, ignoring her completely, as well as the little kraata that hissed at him. "Wait'll I tell Boss! Hey, next time I'm in trouble, can I come here? It makes a good hidin' spot, huh?"

"Icarax doesn't need to hear about this," she snapped, shaking him off and cradling the kraata in her arms. "And no, you can't come along, for the last time. Go find someone else to bother."

"I'll make ya a deal," he said.

She eyed him suspiciously. "A deal?"

"Yup!" Telerahk nodded enthusiastically. "You let me hang around, and me and my brothers'll save you whenever you need savin'!"

"...my father's Rahkshi already have that covered." she said flatly. "In fact, I'm lucky none of them have noticed me yet; I've already got myself an 'honor guard', and I certainly don't need another twenty-five. If that's all you have to offer, I'm not interested." She turned to march into the cave, but was stopped when the blue-green Rahkshi grabbed her elbow.

"Wait!" he yelped. "Here's another thing, then: you let me come with you, and me and my brothers'll keep your dad's Rahkshi from findin' you. You don't like bein' followed all the time, right? So we can help you with that!"

This was completely ignoring the fact that he had been following her against her wishes all day, of course.

She bit her lip. Yes, it would be nice to not be surrounded by at least ten Rahkshi at one time for once, but was having a whiny kraata and an over-loud chatterbox around any better? They couldn't directly report back to her father about her doings - the kraata, though one of Mind Reading, was too young for the strain of a mental link and Telerahk's loyalty was to Icarax, not Teridax - so she was guaranteed some manner of privacy without her father hunting her down every so often and demanding to know what Shadrahk or whoever meant about her "running into trouble" again.

"Are you...sure you can do that?" she asked dubiously. "There are less of you than there are of..."

"Course!" Telerahk said, noting happily that she was seriously considering his offer. "When we don't wanna be found, even our Boss has a hard time findin' us; it'll be easy hidin' you!"

The kraata squealed shrilly, and Telerahk glared at it. "Nobody asked you, runt!"

"Al...alright." Silarial burst out, and the blue-green Rahkshi grinned as the kraata squealed again, this time in dismay. "Perfect! So, what's in those caves, huh? Monsters? Beasts to kill? Hidden treasure? All of the above?"

Silarial found that she had to smile a bit at his enthusiasm. "I'm not quite sure; I haven't been able to fully explore all of them yet. There are Kofo-Jagas and Hoto bugs down there, but as for others...no idea." She reached up to pat the sulking kraata on her shoulder. "Awh, don't worry. We'll be OK, I promise. And if anything attacks us, Telerahk here can fight it off."

Telerahk snickered. "My main point is actually runnin' - or teleportin' - away, but sure, we'll go with that."

Despite the fact that they were finally in blessed darkness again and out of the light, the newborn kraata continued to sulk. Though Big Sister seemed to trust and even like the blue-green Rahkshi yammering away beside her, it didn't. Kraata by nature were extremely territorial. It was part of what made Rahkshi such good warriors, and this kraata was not pleased that Big Sister had allowed someone other than one of their own siblings to accompany them on their walk (its first ever time out of the fortress).

The Telerahk did not smell familiar, which disturbed it. Big Sister and its many brothers all shared a quality in their scents, which in turn reminded it of Master, who was the ultimate being in its eyes. Big Sister and the others were Master's offspring as well, which was good. This other Rahkshi smelled like the black-red Makuta, the mean one who Master had had an argument with just after it was created.

They had been arguing about one of the kraata's older brothers, one called Turahk, who was now gone. Master was demanding to know if any leads had been found, and the mean one had responded that beyond Big Sister being the one on lookout when Turahk went missing, there was not a trace of him to be found. That led to a row about how Big Sister had apparently been attacked, and Master wanted to know who had done it and where they were.

The mean one - who Master had called "Icarax" (and "idiot" and "ignoramus", among others) - had looked angry about that as well, though he had merely said that it was her own fault she wasn't watchful enough to defend herself. That made Master even angrier. What if she had been taken as well as Turahk, he had shouted. What then? They were only lucky that whoever had done it had been content with a lone Rahkshi and hadn't decided to drag a Makuta along as well.

The kraata shivered. That was why Master had ordered her to be watched at all times, not, as she claimed, because he thought there was something wrong with her. And now Icarax's Telerahk was making it easier for something to happen to her again.

It strained to contact Master, but after a few moments of trying, it gave up. Big Sister turned her head to stare at it questioningly for a moment, but beyond that, there was no sign that it had accomplished anything. It fell back into a sulk, but purred as she rubbed it comfortingly, mistaking its sullen mood for nerves. It growled at the Telerahk when he glanced over at it and laughed.

* * *

Telerahk had only ever had one real attachment in his five hundred or so years of living, and that was to his master, Icarax (or, as he and his brothers often referred to him, the Boss). He was all they had ever really cared about in the world, and they had figured it would stay that way.

But now, there was something inherently fascinating about Master Teridax's daughter. She and his own master were apparently completely at odds, but Telerahk found that he liked her. Besides his master, she was the only Makuta who didn't threaten to fry him alive on sight, which was nice. And she had let him stay with her, albeit with great reluctance. She was calm, quiet, and didn't know a thing about battle.

And therein lay the problem, as his Accurahk brother would have put it. Compared to the other Makuta in the organization, she was practically defenseless. Icarax had ranted about this enough times to him and his brothers that they could never forget it. Though with him around, there was nothing to worry about, really, he'd just grab her and teleport back outside if they ran into any trouble.

He broke out of his thoughts as Silarial grabbed his arm with a hand that was surprisingly gentle for something made of metal armor. Looking at her questioningly, he saw her gesture ahead, and his eyes widened when he saw what she was pointing at.

The glow of lava lay in the cave directly ahead.

"I...I've never showed anyone else," she said hesitantly. "And I hadn't planned on showing you, but, well, I was going to look around in there today anyway, and I guess it's better now that I have some backup. Especially with this little one here." She patted the grumpy kraata on the head and darted forward into the cave, stopping at the ledge when a few rocks suddenly broke off.

Telerahk followed her and immediately wished he hadn't as his temperature shot up indefinitely. His armor felt like it was _melting_; the kraata within resisting the urge to curl up into a ball and whimper. He swayed, the sudden heat wave making him dizzy.

"Telerahk?" Her voice forced him out of the haze, as did the surprisingly cool hand that cupped his snout. Startled blue eyes gazed into his, and he gave her a shaky grin and nudged her hand with his snout. "'m good, Miss."

"You don't have to come if you don't like it here," she said worriedly. "I'm sorry, I completely forgot you're cold-blooded...you can't be very comfortable."

He laughed. "I'll live."

"Alright...but if you feel too faint, then we'll leave, OK?"

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak, then sighed as her hand slipped off his snout to grasp his own hand, gripping it securely. She tugged him gently over to the ledge, which he noticed wrapped around the outer perimeter of the deep cave in a spiral. To his relief, they were going up rather than down towards the lava. If they _had_ been going down, he was fairly sure he wouldn't have survived.

Still...it was better to let the Boss know what was going on...

"Hey...I gotta talk to the Boss..." he said, and Silarial turned to glance at him. "Gotta let 'im know where'm at n' stuff...so can you-"

She shook her head. "We're too far underground to establish a mental connection; even a Mentorahk kraata like this one here wouldn't be able to do it. It's OK though, Vamprah knows where we are. And if need be, you can still teleport, right?"

He didn't bother asking her why she didn't include herself in being able to teleport, just like he didn't bother informing her that in his current state he wasn't so sure of his teleportation skills either. He merely nodded, and she smiled and turned her gaze back to the ground in front of her.

She had a pretty smile, he thought. Too bad she didn't do it so often. Over the last half hour that they'd been walking through the tunnels, she'd smiled more than he'd ever seen her do in one sitting before. Maybe she was just shy.

He frowned suddenly. Something was pinching at the back of his mind, and it felt very familiar, but his overheated brain couldn't compute what it might be. He shook his head, trying to get it out, but it persisted. Again, he felt Silarial's eyes on him and gave her a sheepish grin. "Dizzy."

"Do you...?"

"Nah, keep goin'."

Whatever it was, it was gone now, Telerahk noted with relief. Good. It was bothering him, not knowing what it was, but now he could forget about it and concentrate on staying conscious. He felt his companion squeeze his hand reassuringly and smiled.

Silarial herself was beginning to feel the effects of the heat, but whatever she was feeling didn't compare to Telerahk or the kraata, she knew - they were both lightheaded and dizzy, Telerahk stumbling along behind her and the kraata panting hard on her shoulder. That made her nervous. It was entirely too reminiscent of the way her own little kraata had gasped for air as it died...

She let out a yelp as there was a sudden loud crunching sound, and just barely managed to pull Telerahk into her as the section of ground he was standing on gave way. It fell, down, down, down, to the lava below and landed with a splash, liquifying immediately as it sank.

"Ha...ha..." the Teleportation Rahkshi laughed. "Thanks, Miss 'Rial...woulda been lava-bones, ha..."

"Are you alright?" she asked worriedly when he clamped his arms around her, nuzzling her face and ignoring the weak hissing of the kraata.

"Jus' peachy..." he said thickly. His words were slurring, she noticed, which couldn't be good. "Wanna sleep..."

"I-I can't carry you!" she snapped as he collapsed against her, almost knocking her down. She glanced around, biting her lip. Going back down was not an option; the piece that had broken off was larger than she could jump, and Telerahk was obviously in no shape to fly right now. Or teleport, she noticed with a small spark of panic that she quickly shoved back down. The only thing to do was keep going up and hope that there was another cave entrance to somewhere cooler where he could recover enough to get them out of there.

She heaved him back onto his feet, grabbing him hurriedly when he swayed and almost fell over the edge, slamming him into her back. Obviously she _was_ going to have to carry him, no matter what she had said before. She managed to get his arms around her neck, giving the kraata a grateful nudge when it sank its mouth into Telerahk's arm in an attempt to help anchor him there. Then she bent, clasped her arms under his knees, and stood straight up again.

It took her a moment to regain her bearings and find her center of gravity, but once she had, she found it was easier to go along than she had initially thought. Luckily, the Rahkshi was light - he would have to be, she reminded herself, to be able to use flight mode properly.

She set off at a fast pace, knowing that the sooner she found somewhere for him to rest and recover, the better off they'd be. Contrary to the wonder she'd felt upon first entering this place, she now felt nervous and twitchy - no doubt due to having her companion nearly unconscious and babbling incoherently into her neck.

He was talking about his master, she realized, about how great and wonderful Icarax was, and how he and his brothers owed him everything for giving them their armor and allowing them to walk on two feet instead of being forced to crawl everywhere like worms.

"-was a worm b'fore," Telerahk said, words slurring so badly in some places she almost couldn't make them out, "then Boss came an' tol' this other 'un t'get inta th' pool an' ga' me th' armor when it came out." He paused. "Was th' firs' one 'e made."

"So you're the big brother then," Silarial said. If talking to him kept him conscious and from slipping into a coma, then she'd do it, no matter how little sense he made.

"Yeah-huh. Boss says tha's why 'e's so 'ard on meh, coz 'm th' oldes' an' I gotta help 'em out..."

She raised a brow. Icarax was hard on Telerahk? Well, that was certainly news. Everything she had seen and heard pointed to the exact opposite.

"S'not easy," Telerahk said. "I gotta teach 'em ta hun' 'n figh' 'n keep 'em outta trouble till they c'n take care of 'emselves. But Boss says 'm doin' a good job, coz we're th' strongest Rahkshi here. Feels good, haha..."

She smiled. Telerahk and his brothers obviously cared very deeply about their master's opinions, much like her own "siblings" cared about their master's. For Icarax to compliment him was indeed a big thing; Icarax complimented almost nobody. In fact, this was the first time she'd ever really heard of him doing it.

"Hey...'ow come ya don't have any kraata...? Yer the on'y Makuta who doesn't 'ave..."

She gulped, wishing she could grab the little kraata whose teeth were still digging into the delirious Rahkshi's arm to make sure it was still alright and hadn't passed out as well. "I'm not...strong enough yet." she said carefully. "I don't have enough power to sustain one." She refrained from mentioning that she had found this out the hard way.

"Mmmmf..." Telerahk mumbled, making her glance back at him worriedly. To her dismay, he appeared to have finally succumbed to the heat and was rapidly approaching unconsciousness. "Telerahk! Stay awake!"

"Nnnnn," was her only answer.

"Telerahk! Hey, hey, you need to stay awake! Um..." She bit her lip as she thought. "Uh - what are the forty-two Rahkshi powers? Can you tell me that?"

The Rahkshi was silent for a minute, but then his ragged voice panted out, "Teleport...electricity...shadow...Rahi control..."

"Yes, that's it," she said encouragingly, walking faster now that his condition was so serious. "Go on."

"...fear...shattering...hunger...a-anger...dis...dis..."

"Disintegration."

"...poison...accuracy...chain lightnin'... power scream..."

The kraata gave a feeble squeak, and Telerahk nodded. "Yeah...that 'un, too...insect control."

She let him ramble on, and when he got to the end, she had him recite the names of his brothers. Then as many Rahi as he could remember. To her relief, it was keeping him from slipping into a heat-induced coma, which would have been bad. She doubted Icarax would forgive her easily for allowing this to happen to his favorite Rahkshi as it was, but if she were to bring him back in an unconscious heap, it would be at least twice as bad.

That settled it. As soon as they got out, she was taking this Rahkshi straight to Mutran and Chirox, and having them sort him out.

The kraata squealed in her ear, jerking its head weakly towards what she could make out as a depression in the rock of the wall through the heat waves dancing across her vision. No, not just a depression - another tunnel! And it looked like it would be cooler in there; there was no glow of lava or anything else that might make it hot!

She hiked Telerahk higher onto her back and went into a run, yelping when another section of the ground broke off and plummeted behind her. Finally, she made it to the entrance, and darted inside. It _was_ cooler in here, she noted with relief, and after walking for a few more minutes to get as far away from the lava-filled room as possible, carefully lowered Telerahk from her back and set him on the floor, propping him up against the wall. The kraata slithered down her arm and onto the floor next to him, where it lay, gasping for air.

Silarial's insides twisted a bit at this. Still too much of a reminder of her own little kraata. She turned away, grimacing.

After a moment, she turned back, noticing that although the kraata was slithering its way up her shin, presumably to get back onto her shoulder, Telerahk was completely still. Panic spiked through her. Quickly, she knelt in front of the blue-and-green Rahkshi, feeling his forehead. He was still very overheated, she noted guiltily, but now that she was closer she could hear him breathing, though very faintly. She jerked his carapace open to take a look at the kraata within. The purple creature's body was moving very slightly as he breathed, but at least he was alive.

Shutting his carapace back up, Silarial sighed and leaned on the wall next to him, closing her eyes. She was tired. The heat, combined with hauling Telerahk over a steady uphill spiral, had taken its toll on her. Time to rest, then, she thought. As soon as they were all ready, she'd get Telerahk to take them back to the fortress.

She just wished she knew how long it would take for him to get his strength back.

Absently, she reached up to her shoulder to pet the newborn kraata again, groping when she didn't feel anything. After a minute, she shot straight up again and looked at both her shoulders.

No kraata.

She stood, checking herself at all angles.

Still no kraata.

She had to push down the scream of frustration that threatened to break out of her throat. Nothing ever seemed to fall into place with her. First, she'd almost gotten Telerahk killed because she was stupid enough to let him go with her into a lava-filled cave, and now not only were they lost and basically stranded, her father's newest creation was missing.

It couldn't have gone far, she rationalized. After all, it was still only a newborn and couldn't slither very fast just yet. She'd spent enough time chasing after certain other kraata to be able to catch such a young one easily. All she had to do now was locate it.

With a worried glance back at the sleeping Telerahk, she walked farther into the tunnel they were in. Night vision really was a blessing, she thought as she scanned the ground, being careful of where she stepped. Crushing it underfoot would only make the situation worse.

Meanwhile, Telerahk frowned and shifted in his sleep. The pinch at the back of his mind had returned, this time stronger and more annoying than before. He thrashed slightly, muttering.

_"...erahk!"_ he thought he heard, but was too far gone to care. The pinch faded away, and he smiled as he settled back down, hand searching for the warm body of the female that had brought him here. A slight frown crossed his face when he couldn't find her; Boss and Master Teridax would be so angry when they found out he had lost her; but then deep sleep claimed him again and he was out.

* * *

Icarax was getting worried, although he would admit it to no one, instead covering it with annoyance. Just where in the world _was_ that blasted Rahkshi of Teleportation? He had checked and double-checked the fortress - Telerahk knew perfectly well that Rahkshi were not allowed inside except with special permission but more than once he had been caught wandering around in there - and had interrogated every other member of his species he'd found, but they'd all given him the same answer - they hadn't seen a Telerahk besides the ones that they happened to have created themselves.

Finally, he had gone outside to search. The blasted reptile wasn't responding to his mental commands, and none of his brothers knew where he was, which led him to two options: either Telerahk was out of range for telepathy, or he had been killed. Since he hadn't felt anything resembling a termination of their bond, he had been forced to rule out the second option for now.

Which meant Telerahk was out of range.

But just _where_ was out of range? Off the island? Or in the caves? He had heard Teridax complain more than once about Silarial's fascination with those dank things; when she was in them, trying to reach her was impossible as the solid rock made his mental waves bounce right off, but...Telerahk couldn't be in there, could he?

_"Accurahk."_ he transmitted to his second-oldest Rahkshi, closing his eyes. _"Have you found him yet?"_

_"No, sir,"_ came the reply from the blue-and-purple Rahkshi. _"We have searched everywhere overland and he is nowhere to be found."_

_"No body parts have been found either?"_

_"None with your power signature or scent on them, Master. The only discarded Rahkshi parts we have found belonged to that Confusirahk that Lady Gorast killed last month."_

Icarax growled. Gorast's treatment of her own Rahkshi aside, that left one option then. _"Gather another of your brothers and meet me by the caves immediately."_

_"Yes, Boss. Which cave and which brother?"_

He thought. _"Laserahk. And the cave I want you to meet me by is the one that Silarial always goes to."_

_"Yes, Boss. Laserahk and I shall meet you there immediately. Accurahk out."_

Before the connection was terminated, he heard the blue-and-purple Rahkshi screech, _"Laserahk! We are summoned, follow me."_

He concentrated briefly and when he opened his eyes again, he was in front of Silarial's favorite cave. Faintly against the sky, he could make out the shapes of two of his Rahkshi rocketing towards him, the blue-and-purple Accurahk and the red-and-orange Laserahk. Good. Two dedicated Rahkshi to help him search. Accuracy and Heat Vision. A wonderful combination, if he did say so himself.

Teridax wasn't the only one with a brain around there, _that_ was for sure.

In sharp contrast to Accurahk's serious countenance, Laserahk gave him a bright smile as he alighted. _"Good afternoon, Boss!"_ he hissed. _"We are ready to serve you."_

He gave them a brief, skeletal smile. "Good. That's what I want to hear." and he strode into the cave, his two creations scurrying after him.

There was another reason he had contacted Accurahk first besides the fact that the blue-purple Rahkshi was a dedicated minion. True to his name, Accurahk was unusually thorough in everything he did, and should they find any tracks, he would be able to identify them accurately. Or as accurately as possible, anyway.

The Rahkshi blinked when their master knelt down and touched the footprints in the dusty ground. "This one is _hers_, I know," he muttered, and the two shared an amused glance. Miss Silarial, one of the greatest sources of Boss's headaches. "And this one here..."

_"It smells like Telerahk,"_ Laserahk offered, and when their master glanced at him, Accurahk confirmed it. _"Yes, that is our brother's scent. He and Miss Silarial passed this way about...two and a half hours ago. But what were they doing?"_

"I intend to find out," Icarax muttered, and motioned for him to go ahead. "Track them. I want to know where they went."

_"Yes, Boss."_ Accurahk bent his head, eyes trained on the pair of footprints leading farther into the tunnel.

_"It smells like Sir Vamprah a bit, too."_ Laserahk observed, glancing at his master when the Makuta frowned. _"Perhaps he was here as well?"_

_"Not for a while."_ Accurahk said. _"Not for a full day at least. He has been at the mouth of the cave as recently as today, but did not come in. Miss Silarial and our older brother were alone."_

Vamprah...huh. It was common knowledge that the blue Makuta was the one to go drag Silarial back out of the caves each day, but it had never bothered Icarax until right now. That meant Vamprah had probably known that Telerahk was around the caves, but conveniently "forgot" to mention it. He'd have to have a talk with him later about it.

Whether or not his Twin Blade would be involved in the talk was entirely up to Vamprah.

After a long while of walking, Accurahk began to take twists and turns into various other offshoots of the cave, and Icarax began to wonder whether or not Silarial had lured his Rahkshi in here and done away with him. He snorted. It wouldn't be the first time someone had tried something of the sort, certainly, but killing wouldn't even have crossed her mind. No, most likely this was just Silarial allowing Telerahk to follow her around. Destral knew she usually had at least two of her own father's Rahkshi around her at all times...

A sudden gasp from his Accuracy Rahkshi had him glancing back ahead, and he was hard pressed not to gasp himself. The sudden wave of heat that rolled over him and the glow could mean only one thing.

Lava.

She'd found the magma pool. Idiot! Admittedly, he himself had forgotten about it until just then, but it was just like Silarial to decide that the place needed exploring. And just like his headstrong Telerahk to go with her despite his cold-blooded nature.

_"The tracks continue in there,"_ Accurahk pointed. _"Should we...?"_ He already looked sick at the thought of going in there himself.

Icarax nodded, and strode forward. His two Rahkshi followed him unhappily, already feeling the effects of the heat. They'd collapse before long at this rate, he realized, and reached back for them. Taking their arms in his large hands, he allowed a miniscule amount of Ice power to flow into them, cooling their rapidly overheating kraata.

"Hang onto me," he muttered, and they hissed thanks and assent, doing just that. As long as they did, they'd remain at a relatively normal temperature.

This realization made the worry in him spike up again. As far as he knew, Silarial's powers hadn't fully returned yet, which meant she wouldn't have been able to cool Telerahk off enough for him to survive in the heat. His fist clenched, making Laserahk wince a bit. If Telerahk was dead, then...!

No. He would have felt it if the plucky Rahkshi had died, would have felt the link between them being severed. At the worst, then, he'd be in a coma, which was still bad, but salvageable. Silarial would still pay for it, though.

The tracks went up the spiral rock slope, to the visible relief of the two Rahkshi hanging onto him and not down to the actual pool of magma. This didn't surprise him. Even Makuta armor would be hard pressed to survive down there, where the temperatures were so high that solid boulders melted. There was no way Telerahk would have agreed to go there, even if Silarial had wanted to.

They started up, Icarax trying to reach his wayward Rahkshi through telepathy again. This time, he could feel him and almost sighed with relief, but then noted that his creation was asleep. Asleep or unconscious.

_"Telerahk!"_ he snapped, but there was no reply from his Rahkshi other than a sleepy sort of discontentment and a need to find something. Then, nothing again.

"He's close by," he muttered, making both Accurahk and Laserahk look at him. "Somewhere around there, unless I miss my guess." He pointed upwards, to the higher part of the spiral ramp.

_"And Miss Silarial?"_ Laserahk asked.

"I don't know. Nor do I care. She's a big girl; she can take care of herself."

The words didn't ring with any sort of truth, which only angered him more. When he found her, that girl was dead!

_"Boss!"_ Laserahk's free hand shot out, pointing. A section of rock had fallen away from the ramp, too wide to jump. _"We will have to fly across."_

Unasked was whether or not it had fallen before or after Silarial and Telerahk had passed by.

"Hn," Icarax grunted, looking unconcerned. "Let's get going." He spread his newly healed wings and jumped into the air, gliding carefully over to the other side with his two Rahkshi still clinging to him. He had to be careful, though - with this much heat around, it was almost impossible not to go too far up, and he didn't want to lose the tracks. Blasted rising heat!

They made a slightly ungainly landing, but neither of his creations were foolish enough to mention the way their master's right leg almost buckled under him, nor that he had momentarily gripped his thigh, grimacing. It had only just been healed; to them, it was no wonder he was having trouble. If it had been either of them in his place, they wouldn't even be walking around, they knew.

One set of tracks stopped here, and a single pair continued onward.

_"...what happened?"_ Laserahk asked, staring at the single set of prints. _"Did one of them fall with the rock?"_

Accurahk frowned, studying it, feeling his master's tension level rising dangerously. _"No...see right there? They were standing very close to each other, and...it looks like Miss Silarial might have carried our brother from here on out. Her footprints are slightly deeper, which would indicate a significant increase in weight."_

Icarax resisted the urge to let out a small, relieved sigh, and began to walk up the spiral ramp again. This bloody sucked. He was still tired out from his duel with Gorast the day before, and yet he was stuck running around above a molten pool of lava with two nervous Rahkshi, tracking down his boss's daughter and another one of his Rahkshi. Could today get any worse?

An unearthly shriek from above was his answer, followed by the sound of rock exploding and a high-pitched, "GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Another explosion sounded, and the screeching of a kraata was just audible in all the din.

"AAAAAHHHH! STOP IT! NO, GET BACK HERE! TELERAHK!"

_"Telerahk!"_ Laserahk cried. He and Accurahk were jerked off their feet as their master suddenly took to the air, wings beating almost frantically. They rose quickly, following the noise to a new cave much higher up than where they had been, where the shouts and explosions were coming from.

Alighting and almost crashing into the wall in his hurry, Icarax was on his feet almost immediately, leaving his two woozy Rahkshi to regain their bearings and follow him by themselves.

* * *

The little kraata had gone a surprisingly long way for such a little thing, to Silarial's annoyance, but it had stopped and was resting. Thank Destral! Now she could grab it up, get back to Telerahk, and wait for him to wake up so they could just go home and forget all about this little adventure. She didn't doubt that she'd have a job getting him to keep their excursion a secret...

"Here, little one!" she called to the newborn kraata, which was so still it might as well have been frozen in ice. She scooped it up with a sigh of relief, cuddling it into her chest. "Don't run away like that!" she scolded. "You're not old enough to go exploring yet!"

The kraata squealed at her, and she frowned at it. "Chasing...monsters?" She blinked. "Oh, you mean the Kofo-Jagas. No, that's bad! I know it's in your instinct to try and infect them, but you're lucky they didn't eat y-"

It squealed again, this time sounding scared. She stopped scolding it for a moment and held it up at eye level, staring at it in confusion. "What now?"

A sudden movement caught her peripheral vision, and she froze. "Wh-what was that?"

No answer.

She tried again. "Telerahk? Is that you? Are you awake?"

That was unlikely, she knew - Telerahk lived to be loud, and if it HAD been him, he would have come running up while yelling at the top of his lungs, not flitting around and hiding. Or would he? Maybe he was playing a joke on her.

This thought made her roll her eyes. Yes, that _would_ be just like the mischievous Teleportation Rahkshi to try to scare her. "OK, Telerahk, you're not funny. Now come out and take us home."

No answer, aside from another _whoosh_ to the right.

"Telerahk?"

The kraata whimpered, and she instinctively cradled it again, petting its head comfortingly. She was trying not to show it, but she was beginning to get scared now too. That wasn't Telerahk. Which meant she had to get back to him immediately.

She spun around with the kraata clutched to her chest, and let out a small scream before biting it off.

That was a Jaga, alright...but it was most certainly NOT a Kofo-Jaga. No, that was a _Nui_-Jaga. A very large, blue, _angry_ Nui-Jaga, if the way it was snarling and snapping its dripping fangs at her was any indication.

Its tail snapped forward, and she dove out of the way with a cry. She managed to hurdle past it, back towards Telerahk's resting place. But what if he'd already been eaten? He was unconscious when she'd left him, and it was unlikely that he'd woken up in such a short time. And even if he had, it was even more unlikely that he'd be able to defend himself.

The shrieking of the beast behind her as it gave chase, she arrived just in time to see another, purple this time, Nui-Jaga bearing down on the unconscious Rahkshi, its teeth inches from his snout. A shout tore from her throat as she threw herself forward. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

Without thinking, she punched the oversized Rahi, making it fly into the wall with an explosion of rock. It snarled angrily as it rose, barely even fazed, and Silarial sucked in a horrified breath, trying to calm herself down.

She screamed as a set of teeth sank into her leg from behind, and the kraata in her arms began to screech too, terrified out of its wits. Twisting and regretting it as the metal of her leg tore painfully, she kicked backwards with her free foot at the blue Nui-Jaga, hitting it in the side of the face. This only enraged it more, and in a flash, both her arms were held clutched in its pincers.

The still-screeching kraata hit the ground and darted over to Telerahk, who was just beginning to stir from all the noise. It burrowed itself behind him, shivering violently and calling for him to _wake up, wake up, WAKE UP AND HELP BEFORE THEY EAT HER!_, but the Rahkshi was still too woozy to do much more than mumble incoherently.

As it was nudging and biting his back, trying to force him to get up, the purple Nui-Jaga was advancing on them both, saliva dripping from its fangs.

"STOP IT!" Silarial shouted, struggling and trying to avoid getting dragged off by the blue one. She stomped her free foot, trying to dig it in, but only succeeded in cracking the rock floor. "NO, GET BACK HERE! TELERAHK!"

Telerahk was awake now, she could see, but still incredibly groggy. He was, however, coherent enough to realize that there was danger, and appeared to be attempting to shield the kraata with his body as he fumbled for his staff. Unfortunately, he couldn't concentrate enough to summon the weapon, and he collapsed against the wall, panting hard.

He stared up through eyes that couldn't seem to focus properly at the purple monster advancing on him and the little kraata behind his back. He knew he should do something, but he just couldn't summon the energy. No matter how hard he tried, his body just wouldn't respond.

Why wasn't Miss 'Rial doing anything, he wondered. She was a Makuta, for Destral's sake! Even a weak Makuta was several times stronger than a Nui-Jaga...

The Jaga's teeth were just about to sink into his torso when it suddenly reared, screaming. Telerahk blinked slowly. Unless he was now hallucinating, what looked like a bolt of heat ray vision had just struck the thing right in the side. But that was impossible. Unless...

He was jerked upwards suddenly as a familiar black-and-red form loomed over him and took a hold of his arm, all but tossing him into the waiting arms of one of his brothers. Laserahk's eyes were still glowing from using his Heat Ray power, but the red-and-orange Rahkshi carefully grabbed his blue-and-green brother and handed him over to Accurahk.

_"Thanks!"_ the red-and-orange Rahkshi said to Accurahk, who nodded. _"I'm gonna go help Boss; you take care of him and the kid, OK?"_ He carefully passed the kraata that he had grabbed from underneath his master's feet over to his older brother, and Accurahk took it gingerly. Once sure that they were safe, he focused his Heat Ray back on the angry purple Nui-Jaga, which was advancing on them again. The thing screamed and hurled a glob of poison at him with its tail, but another good blast caused it to disintegrate immediately.

His master had not been so lucky, he saw - the Makuta of Karzahni was carelessly wiping the sludge-like substance off of his arm and grimacing as it burned, but right now was not the time. Boss could take care of himself. He had two brothers and a newborn kraata to protect; all else could wait.

The blue Nui-Jaga felt something give way in its jaws and chittered with satisfaction as the female whose leg it was chewing on screamed again, the metal of her leg finally having been punctured nicely. It couldn't taste blood, which was strange, but it didn't care. Its prey was almost immobilized, and once it had dragged her back to the nest and gotten her turned around so it could get her in the chest with its stinger, it would be time to eat. Its claws held fast as well, though she was desperately trying to get away from it and back to the strange, reptilian things its mate was stalking.

She babbled something out, something it didn't understand, but it sounded familiar. Much like the sounds that the green and gray ones had once made, back before it had come to these caves with its mate to live. Back then, life had been nothing but pain in the form of pricks and strange burns coursing through its system, and agony as its form ballooned and twisted and shifted. This little one was almost a throwback of that time, and the Jaga's slightly advanced brain could almost consider eating her its deserved reward for all the pain of before.

It lifted its tail up, preparing to strike her in the back and immobilize her completely. Then, once it had taken her paralyzed form back to the nest and its mate had arrived, they could begin to eat.

Something grabbed its tail, but before it could figure out what it was, pure, unadulterated agony coursed through its system - its tail had just been snapped off, its body fluids spurting from the wound. It screamed, releasing the female's leg in the process, though its claws clenched harder on her arms, making her cry out as well.

And then that same pressure was on its right claw before it, too, was snapped off, freeing her arm. Quickly, before it could lose the left claw as well, it released her and backed off, shuddering and screeching in agony. Its eyes focused on her, now clutched to the chest of a large, angry-looking black-and-red thing. It hadn't expected her to have a mate as well! Nor had it expected said mate to be around either; it hadn't smelled him earlier. The only scents it had picked up were hers and that of the two that its own mate was taking care of.

Icarax glanced down at the shaking female, one of his arms wrapped around her waist and holding her back to his chest, feet dangling. The snapped-off pincer was still clamped around her right forearm, he noticed, but then his gaze returned to the wounded Rahi before him.

He sneered as he remembered one of Chirox's failed experiments; a supposed "Super Jaga" that would be able to give even a Makuta a hard time. The project had been scrapped on Teridax's orders, and the half-finished creatures had vanished. Unless he missed his guess, he now knew where those things had disappeared to. The things were huge, he noted, much bigger than they should have been. And...ah yes, there were the remnants of the chains that had bound them.

Note to self: when done having that talk with Vamprah about withholding information on his Rahkshi, go and have one with Chirox about properly disposing of failed experiments.

He whirled around just in time to block the tail of the one that his Laserahk had driven towards him, throwing it into its injured mate with one hand, a show of his incredible strength. He was aware of Silarial shivering against him, but once again chose to ignore it - and the way her free hand gripped his arm that was around her - and send the two Jagas on their merry way.

The power of molecular disruption was a useful one indeed.

* * *

Silarial shuddered as the pair of Nui-Jagas crumbled into dust from Icarax's power, but no matter how vile that image was, it wasn't enough to make her try to look at him. He was looking down at her, she knew, but she kept her gaze fixed steadfastly on the pile of dust that had once been two living, breathing Rahi.

"What in the name of Destral were you thinking?" he asked, voice low and dangerous.

She gulped and stayed silent.

He shook her a bit, making her wince and kick her feet, suddenly desperate to get away from him.

"Silarial, damn it, look at me!" he snarled, and finally, sensing no other way out, she tilted her head to look into his eyes. She regretted it immediately, however, as his eyes were practically _flaming_ from how angry he was. Behind him, she saw an Accurahk and a Laserahk tending to Telerahk, her father's kraata perched on the Accurahk's shoulder, but when Icarax growled, she returned her gaze to his face.

"I-I-I-I-" she stuttered, unable to talk.

"What were you _thinking?_" he bit out, making the three Rahkshi look over at them as well. "Do you have any idea what you could have done?"

"I..."

"You took one of my Rahkshi and a kraata - a newborn, unless I miss my guess - and dragged them into a magma pit without any way to keep them from dying of heat stroke, fully knowing that they are cold-blooded. Without informing anyone else to your whereabouts, might I add-"

"V-Vamprah knew-" she tried, but he cut her off again.

"Oh, so you inform _him_, but not the master of the Rahkshi you took along with you? My only Stage Seven Rahkshi! And then! And then, you go and tick off a pair of giant Nui-Jagas, almost get my Rahkshi and that kraata eaten, almost get _yourself_ eaten, and force me to come to your rescue! You just don't think, do you?"

She struggled a bit to get down, and he set her on the floor, keeping a tight hold of her left arm. Her right arm, he noticed, was still held in the snapped-off claw of the blue Nui-Jaga, and her left leg was buckling painfully, the metal having suffered several punctures from the Rahi's teeth. She wouldn't be able to walk, he realized angrily. Which meant he would have to either heal her or carry her.

Growling, he bent and pried the claw off of her arm, ignoring her little yelp of pain in the process. She deserved it for what she'd done, her and Telerahk both, making him worry and come after them like this.

"Not to mention," he growled when he straightened up again, "you realize that your father would have blamed me for your death? It was one of _my_ Rahkshi that you took, which would make _me_ guilty by association. He might even have accused me of sending you off with Telerahk on purpose, to get rid of you! So not only did you endanger your _own_ life, you endangered _mine_ as well."

To his surprise, genuine grief passed through her eyes at this, and he faltered on what he was about to say next. His grip on her slackened, and she pulled away from him. When she tried to take a step back, though, her injured leg didn't support her, and she toppled over with a cry, landing on her backside. She whimpered a bit as she clutched her leg, biting her lip to try and hold it in.

Icarax towered over a lot of beings, but he had never been more aware of his own size as he was right then, with her on the floor in front of him, holding her hurt leg and trying to make herself as small as possible. Trying not to seem like a target anymore.

Sighing, he knelt in front of her, gripping the wounded appendage. As expected, she gave a small yelp at that, but it became a full-fledged cry when he tugged it out straight, his fingers digging into her ankle and knee as he pulled. He was hurting her and he knew it, but he had to inspect the damage before they could go anywhere.

Still, it would help if each little cry she gave didn't disturb him so much. Why did it seem like such a huge deal that he was the one who was making her give off those pained noises? He wasn't even the one who had hurt her this time; it was all her own fault.

He watched as she bit down on her lip almost hard enough that, had she been any other species, it would be bleeding, and frowned. That was wrong too. Everything about her was just so odd.

He almost considered just grabbing her and the Rahkshi and teleporting back to the fortress so he could hand her off to Chirox and Mutran to fix, but somehow the idea of doing that was wrong too. Who knew what those two would do to her in this state? And besides, it would be all too easy for Teridax to waltz in unannounced and see her. And then all hell would _really_ break loose.

Which meant he had to heal her. Keeping Telerahk's condition a secret would be easy; he'd just say that the idiot had had some kind of tussle with a couple Visorak and was resting till he was ready to fly and fight again, but Silarial? No. He had to get her healed and ready to walk around again, otherwise Teridax would have _all_ the Brotherhood's heads for his missing daughter.

The knowledge of this made him grip her leg tighter, determined to get her back to the way she was supposed to be.

* * *

She was crying out like a weakling, Silarial knew, but she didn't care at that point, didn't even care that there were three Rahkshi and a kraata watching and listening to her do it; she just wanted him to stop touching her and leave her alone. His initial anger had been bad enough, but then he had brought up the point of his own danger from her actions and she had crumpled. He had had a point, which was the worst thing about it all - her father _would_ blame Icarax for anything that happened to her just because it was one of _his_ Rahkshi that she had been with.

Finally, he stopped pulling on her leg, resting it on the floor. His fingers pressed carefully into it, but she still couldn't help the little groan that burst out at this. "Quiet," he commanded, and she clamped her mouth shut, biting her lip against the pain.

His fingers pressed harder into her knee, but she swallowed the yelp threatening to break out. And then, miraculously - the metal of her leg began to reform, filling out again, the torn parts mending back together.

"There," Icarax rumbled. "Is that better?"

She nodded wordlessly. At least she'd be able to walk again, and she turned to tell him this when she noticed how close to her he was. His eyes practically obscured her vision, and she felt her spirit go into a frenzy in her armor when she realized that he was kneeling over her on the ground.

She froze, heating up, unable to move.

His hand hadn't left her thigh, though now he was gripping it lightly, his right hand on her back and holding her up. She resisted the urge to shiver when the fingers moved a little.

His expression was unreadable. She hated not being able to tell what others were thinking.

As she stared at him, and he at her, he moved his hands to grasp both her arms together, healing the dents in them from the Nui-Jaga's claws. Slowly, the pain faded away, and she heaved a sigh of relief that broke off when he turned to look at her again.

"Um...your sh-shoulder..." she stammered, pointing to it, desperate for something to make him look away and let go of her.

He glanced at it, noticing for the first time that the glob of venom the purple Nui-Jaga had hit him with had begun to eat into it. Carelessly, he gripped it, his hand glowing. When he let go, the stain of the venom was gone and his shoulder was back to normal. He grunted and rolled back on his heels, preparing to get up.

As they stood, Icarax's right leg crumpled slightly, and he scowled as he grabbed it, glaring. The bloody thing still wasn't working properly yet, he realized angrily. Obviously Chirox had messed up when he was mending it earlier that week. It wouldn't surprise him to find out that it was done on purpose, just to give him one more thing to be annoyed about.

Without thinking, Silarial stepped forward and grasped his upper thigh with both hands, intending on taking a look at it. "You're still hurt?"

Icarax gave a gasp when her hand came dangerously close to a certain area, jerking back. "I'm fine," he snapped, refusing to look at her and sending a glare at the three Rahkshi, all of whom looked amused.

_"One word out of you three, and you're dead,"_ he transmitted. Accurahk and Laserahk both paled, though Telerahk merely grinned dazedly.

"You...you should go see Chirox about that," Silarial said, looking up at him and oblivious to the exchange. "If - if it's not w-working p-p-properly, I mean, it's not safe to go around like-"

"I am perfectly capable of fixing it myself, thanks," he snapped at her, making her frown. He knew she knew he was lying. Quick Healing was one thing, but this wasn't a matter of an injury. This was a matter of some piece or another not being properly wired in his leg. And unfortunately for him, his area of expertise did not include building.

She squared her shoulders, steeling herself. "And I still think you should go see Chirox. He can do it quicker and better than you can."

Telerahk snickered, but Icarax didn't bother turning around to reprimand his Rahkshi. A split second later, the sound of metal meeting metal rang out, and Telerahk whined as he clutched the spot on his head where both his younger brothers had smacked him.

Icarax frowned. That was just like his spastic creation to find that last comment amusing for the wrong reason. Where had Telerahk gotten _that_ from? Certainly not from him; he prided himself on being a mature individual. His reactions to Silarial's accidental innuendos when she was cleaning him up in his room aside, that kind of humor was best reserved for drunken Matoran after a long day.

"Trust me, I can do it better," he bit out, almost wincing when Telerahk choked back another laugh. He made a mental note to smack his creation later for it.

Ignoring the reprimands about his lack of personal care coming from Silarial's mouth now, he instead turned to his two younger Rahkshi and ordered them to carry Telerahk. He himself grabbed the nervous kraata off of Accurahk's shoulder and passed it to Silarial, who took it with a relieved sigh and petted it when it nuzzled her face. She spent entirely too much time coddling those things, he thought, and strode past her deeper into the cave.

"H-hey! W-where are you going? Out is the _other_ way!"

He rolled his eyes and kept walking, hearing her scrambling after him, followed by the three Rahkshi. "Can't go back that way. The floor's broken, and heat rises. If I tried to fly, I'd go straight up, not down."

"But...but-" She tried again, obviously surprised that he seemed to know his way around the caves as well. Why she was so surprised, he didn't know. It was only natural to explore the place where you lived, which was what he had done upon first arriving on Destral. "Why can't we just teleport?"

"Too many participants. Ask Bitil what happens when you try to teleport more than yourself and two other beings at a time. The results aren't pretty."

That shut her up nicely, he noticed with a smug grin, and rightly so. Among other things, she was probably now thinking about Bitil's infamous experiment where he had attempted to teleport himself and a few Matoran. Three of the five had come out missing several crucial pieces of themselves, and Bitil himself had been missing a leg. It had taken days to get the mess straightened out, and from then on it was widely agreed upon that teleportation would be kept to a maximum of one instigator and two guests at a single time.

Not to mention the problem of the Rahkshi and the kraata. Accurahk and Laserahk, despite the fact that he had kept them from overheating in the magma pit, still looked slightly pale and Telerahk and the kraata were both in no shape to go back in there. So they were going to go this way whether Silarial liked it or not.

Speaking of Telerahk...

Icarax opened a mental connection to his oldest creation, feeling him wince when he did so. Oh yes, Telerahk knew what was coming, alright. _"And now you. Care to explain to me just why you followed her in here and nearly got yourself killed?"_

The words were lighthearted, but he knew the blue-and-green Rahkshi heard the underlying steel - could hear him shivering in between his two brothers.

_"Uhh...she said I could go...?"_

_"Hm, did she now?"_ Anyone listening in might have said he sounded like a father who was simply curious about his son's day. Unfortunately, this was anything but. _"And what did you blackmail her with to get her to agree to that?"_

_"I didn't blackmail her! I swear!"_

_"Bribe, then. What did you bribe her with to get her to let you tag along?"_

Telerahk shrugged mentally. _"She doesn't like bein' stalked by her dad's Rahkshi all the time, so I said I'd help her hide from them whenever she wanted."_

Icarax closed his eyes and counted to ten. That was just like Telerahk, he had to admit - any opportunity to undermine the authority figures, and he would take it. _"You do realize there is a reason Teridax has been sending them to watch over her."_

_"Uhhh...no?"_

The Karzahni Makuta gritted his teeth. _"She was attacked the day Teridax's Turahk disappeared, you idiot worm! What if she had been taken as well? What if, because you felt like stirring up trouble, you two were attacked by the same ones who took Turahk and were captured as well?"_

He felt Telerahk's horror and was satisfied (though nowhere near letting him off the hook). The Rahkshi knew the repercussions that would come if such an event were to happen. Allowing Teridax's daughter to get attacked and kidnapped, without being able to stop it? He wouldn't survive what Teridax would do to him, and he knew he was lucky that it hadn't happened. Only, it almost had, just in a different way when they were attacked by the Nui-Jaga. It was a huge stroke of luck that his master had been looking for them and saved them when he did, otherwise they would both be dead.

But that didn't change one small fact that he was still immensely curious about.

_"Hey, Boss?"_

_"What?"_

_"What's wrong with Miss 'Rial? All day she kept talkin' like she didn't have any powers, and when the Jagas came, she wasn't usin' 'em either...or maybe she did, I didn't see..."_

_"It's nothing, Telerahk."_ His master's voice was curt. _"She had a small mishap recently and it has left her with a temporary drain on her powers. With the proper precautions, it is nothing to be concerned about."_

The Rahkshi winced, knowing that that was directed at his earlier deal with the female Makuta. _"So then...should we keep watch on her too?"_

The mental connection shuddered, and he knew he'd struck a nerve, hastily back-pedaling to avoid punishment. _"I-I didn't mean we should interfere or anything, just that she said I could follow her around whenever I want, so I thought that..."_

_"That doesn't factor into your deal."_ Icarax frowned, having recovered from his creation's odd idea. _"Wasn't it that as long as you helped her hide from Teridax's Rahkshi, she would let you follow her?"_

Telerahk grinned, making Accurahk and Laserahk look at him strangely, but ignored them. _"I DID keep 'em away from her today, Boss - never said how long I'd keep it up."_

His master frowned. _"So in other words, no specifications were made and it's all open to interpretation?"_

The Teleport Rahkshi's grin widened. _"Exactly!"_

Icarax sighed, though secretly he was proud of his creation's way of thinking. Devious. Just like a Rahkshi should be. He had to admit that it was tempting to send a couple of his own after her to make sure a repeat of today's risks didn't happen, but then questions would be raised about just why _his_ Rahkshi were following her around. Not to mention the fighting that would occur. He doubted Teridax's Shadrahk would be happy with his Telerahk hanging about, and it was a well-known fact that Rahkshi were territorial. If Shadrahk thought that Telerahk's presence would harm Silarial in any way, he wouldn't hesitate to drive him off, which in turn was almost sure to cause a ruckus with their respective brothers. And likely one between their masters as well, for that matter.

All that because of one little female. It boggled the mind just how much trouble she could stir up at times.

_"I'll think about it,"_ he grunted, and terminated the mental link before Telerahk could protest.

He glanced back at the young female who was trailing after him, her eyes on the ground and glazed over, preoccupied with something. What was she thinking about? So far he had avoided mentioning the incident in his room, and wasn't about to bring it up while they had an audience, but he was still terribly curious about it. What did she think of him, and why? Why had her thoughts that day all been about him?

_"Curiosity killed the Muaka, you know."_ Chirox's voice echoed in his mind from a memory of so many millennia ago. _"But then again..."_ He could picture the evil grin that had been on the scientist's face. _"Satisfaction brought it right on back."_

And the fact that Chirox would have justified any less-than-savory actions like that discouraged him from a direct approach. Nor was he sure that he wanted to know, to be honest. There were too many consequences that could come of it, many of them involving Teridax turning him into scrap metal for touching her. Even though each time he had touched her had been for a good reason and _not_ for anything dirty.

It was too crowded in here, he scowled. Or maybe it was just that she was right behind him that was making him feel so claustrophobic all of a sudden, which was worse. He almost opened his mouth to tell her to walk behind his Rahkshi to put some distance between them, but that wasn't an option. Knowing _her_ track record, _something_ was bound to reach out and drag her off, and then he'd have to go rescue her all over again. At least with her in the middle, the chances of that were slim.

"You still need to go see Chirox." Her voice broke the silence.

Icarax gave her an annoyed backwards glance. "Not this again."

"If your leg isn't working right, then you need to see someone who can fix it!" she insisted, the kraata clutched in her arms like some sort of slimy, worm-like doll. That reminded him, he still needed to give her back the Rahkshi-shaped doll he had taken from her twenty years ago now. It had upset her to lose it, he knew, as she had made it herself and was been proud of it. Well, when you were too weak to make your own _real_ Rahkshi, he supposed making a doll of one was the next best thing. He'd leave it for her to find somewhere if he could ever remember where he'd put it. Maybe he'd destroyed it and not hidden it...

"Really, Icarax," she sighed, drawing his name out and making him wince. He could feel Telerahk grinning and the repressed grins of Accurahk and Laserahk, and knew they'd noticed his discomfort at the way she'd said it too. The kraata, on the other hand, seemed less than pleased, judging by the way it was growling at him. Territorial little worm. Did it honestly think it could challenge _him?_ "You need to be more careful about your body. First you waited until it was crucial to get a tune-up and I had to do it for you-"

_"Not a WORD,"_ he warned his three Rahkshi, all of whom looked like they wanted desperately to laugh.

"-and now right after I did all that, you went and had a duel with Gorast and couldn't even be bothered to get yourself fixed up properly. And you lecture _me_ about being careless?"

"Yes, I do," he bit out. "After all, I'm not the one who walked powerless into a lava pit with two cold-blooded creatures, neither of whom were your own, and got attacked by mutated Nui-Jagas."

She was silent for a minute before saying, "...for the record, I _do_ appreciate you saving me from those things. Just so you know."

_"Now, that was cute."_

Icarax cursed silently when he realized he hadn't terminated the mental connection to his Rahkshi when he'd ordered them not to talk, and they could talk to him without Silarial knowing. He went to shut it down when Telerahk spoke again.

_"Seriously, Boss. You should see the look on her face; she looks like you just kicked her or somethin'."_

_"And you find that cute?"_ Accurahk asked dryly.

Icarax ignored them and shut the mental link down. "Don't expect it to happen again." he said gruffly, keeping his face forward and not looking back at her. "I've got better things to do than run after you every day."

She smiled a little, and it was in her voice. "I know. And I'm glad about that; I don't need anyone else running after me all the time. Shadrahk has that covered already. But you still need to go see Chirox."

"If I have him take a look at my leg, will you shut up about it?" he growled, making her laugh.

"Yes."

He grunted his agreement, though she didn't know why it was such a big deal in the first place. If he couldn't walk properly, then he should go get it checked out by someone who knew what they were doing. Then again, this was Icarax, and he was a very proud being. Asking for help was not something he did.

It surprised her that he actually agreed, though she was content now that he had. She had almost offered to do it herself, but had to admit that she knew a scant little about real repairs. And after what had happened the _last_ time she had helped him with something, she wasn't about to offer again. So it was good that he had agreed to go see Chirox about it. Yes.

* * *

**_(AN: Whatever was here before is no longer here. Obviously. My laptop ran out of battery as I was writing it several months ago, and shut off without saving. I could have cried when that happened...but anyway, I had to rewrite what comes after this line break from pure memory, and I ran out of steam about halfway through. Nor did I quite have the motivation / inspiration to rewrite the first few paragraphs. I'm sure you can imagine how they went, though. Sigh. Now that I have a desktop, though, no more shutdowns will occur and no more info will be lost. I think. I hope. Please.)_**

* * *

She laughed, and he smiled. The three Rahkshi were watching, but he didn't care. The way her face lit up when she laughed was fascinating, and that was all he wanted to concentrate on for the time being. Her hand on his arm tightened unconsciously, and he had to keep himself from looking down at it.

_"Icarax. Silarial."_

Icarax jerked when Vamprah materialized in front of them, a frown on his blue mask, and he glared at the other Makuta. "Vamprah," he said stiffly, gritting his teeth at Silarial's almost-cheerful greeting.

_"Your father is looking for you,"_ the blue Makuta told her. _"You should go to him at once."_

"Alright." She didn't leave however, merely kept smiling at him.

A silence passed in which Telerahk, Accurahk, and Laserahk glanced worriedly at their master, who they knew was getting angry about something. Accurahk hissed quietly, making him look at them for a split second before turning his gaze back to the Makuta of Odina and Voya Nui.

_"I see your expedition did not go quite as planned,"_ Vamprah observed finally. _"You seem to have picked up a few...stragglers."_

"Oh no," Silarial laughed nervously before Icarax could snarl at him about what had actually happened. "Telerahk and I got into a bit of trouble, and Icarax had been looking for Telerahk, and he arrived in time to save us. That's it, really."

Vamprah looked her up and down. _"You have been injured,"_ he said, making her stiffen up. _"Did the Rahkshi's carelessness cause that to happen?"_

"No!" She grabbed the aforementioned Rahkshi into a hug tight enough to make him yelp and pretended to coddle him as he had often seen her do with her father's various newborn kraata. "He was a good partner, _weren't_ you, Telerahk?"

"Best she's ever had," Telerahk said, his voice muffled from his face being pressed into her collar area. He winced when the kraata she was still holding bit him as it was smushed between them. "Yup, I kept her safe till Boss showed up and took over from there."

Icarax rolled his eyes - that was _not_ how things had gone at all - but didn't say anything. He was too busy concentrating on the way Silarial had yet to really take her gaze off of the the Makuta of Odina and wondering, annoyed, just why this was.

"Um, anyway..." She let go of Telerahk and stepped closer to Vamprah, blinking at Icarax when he made a noise. "Do you know where Mutran and Chirox are? Icarax's leg isn't doing so well from his fight yesterday, and they'll need to take a look at it."

A slight smirk twisted Vamprah's mouth. _"He should run along and find them then. I'm sure his Rahkshi would be happy to escort him and make sure he doesn't collapse again."_

"Say that again," Icarax said shortly, and the two glared at each other.

_"I think I just felt a chill..."_ Laserahk hissed to Accurahk, who nodded.

Silarial looked from Vamprah to Icarax and back again, confused. "Um, what? Who said anything about collapsing?" She bent slightly to look at Icarax's leg, frowning. "It's not _that_ bad."

Vamprah let out a noise that might have been a laugh. _"Nothing, little one. You should go find your father now before he comes looking for you himself."_

"Instead of sending the underlings to do it, yes," Icarax supplied, and the blue Makuta glared at him.

Still looking confused, Silarial clutched the little kraata to her chest and said her goodbyes, then scampered away. Vamprah sent one more slight smirk Icarax's way before taking off after her, presumably to make sure she actually went to to Teridax's quarters and didn't get sidetracked along the way.

The Makuta of Karzahni didn't move for a long time, merely staring at the retreating backs of the other two with a murderous look on his face. "Uhh, Boss?" Telerahk said timidly after a moment. "You alright over there?"

His master turned and pinned him with a glare that had him shrinking back into his brothers, instinctively trying to shield them, both gripping his arms tightly. Telerahk gulped, lowering his eyes respectfully. The boss was angry, _very_ angry, and this was not a good thing. When the boss got angry, things tended to get destroyed.

"Keep an eye on her from now on," Icarax snapped, and the Teleport Rahkshi looked back up at him.

"Huh?"

"Are you deaf as well as stupid, Telerahk?" his master hissed. "My orders are for you and your brothers to watch over her from now on and report to me what she does."

_"Master Teridax will not like that,"_ Laserahk said quietly, regretting it when the glare was turned on him.

"If he threatens you, tell him the truth - she said you could follow her if you all kept his Rahkshi from doing the same."

_"Perhaps we should refrain from mentioning that last part, though...?"_ Accurahk put in, and was relieved when the anger on his master's face drained slightly as he mulled this over. _"She will not incriminate us if we simply state that she said we may be with her."_

The unspoken _"she is too soft to do that"_ hung between them.

Icarax snorted, the anger returning. "I don't care how you do it. Just get it done."

_"Yes, sir."_

"You got it, Boss. One report on one Miss 'Rial, to be delivered daily!"

_"You can count on us."_

"I had _better_ be able to." That shut them up nicely. He gave them a once-over before ordering them to go back to their den and rest, aiming it particularly at Telerahk, who was still just barely able to walk on his own. Once satisfied that they understood his orders, he began the long, slow walk back to his own quarters. There was work to be done, and the knowledge of this did not improve his mood any.

But...he cursed when he remembered he'd promised to go see Chirox about his leg. Blasted brat! She'd know if he didn't go, and he really didn't need her heckling him about it.

Scowling so hard that a few nearby Visorak skittered in the opposite direction upon seeing it, Icarax closed his eyes and concentrated. When he opened them again, Chirox's bored voice greeted him with, "I realize you must really want to see me, but would you mind not teleporting right on top of my work next time? And you might want to wash up before I look at whatever you need me to see; you've got blood all over you now."

He really hated mad scientists. A lot.

* * *

Teridax was still mulling over his book when a knock at the door caught his attention. "Enter," he called, and the door opened to reveal his daughter and Vamprah. The blue Makuta gave him a respectful nod before giving Silarial a slight nudge inside and teleporting away.

"Silarial." he said. "Come here."

She did so immediately, and he noticed that she was clutching one of his kraata to her chest. One problem solved, then. He had been searching for this one before as well, and here it was. Good. One less thing to deal with, he thought as he took it from her and placed it on his desk, where it curled up to go to sleep.

"Good evening, Father," she greeted, sitting in the chair he waved her towards and leaning forward in it. "How are you?"

He gave her a slight smile. "I am doing well, thank you. What were you doing today?"

She froze slightly, making him frown, but then she recovered fast enough and began to babble about how she'd gone exploring with his kraata and had found a lava pit, but oh don't worry, Father, we were just fine and yes the kraata got a little overheated but he recovered quickly enough once out of the heat, and they'd seen a couple of Jagas (he noticed how she failed to specify which kind) and driven them off, and then they'd gone back outside and found Vamprah, who said she was needed up here, and well, here they were!

Had she needed to breathe, he was sure she'd be panting right now, and Teridax resisted the urge to smile. Still such a child. Except not quite anymore. She was older than his horde of Rahkshi, and it bothered him to realize that he treated them as being more capable than her. She _was_ capable, just...naive. So different from what he had planned when he created her.

And that brought another point. It was past the time that she made herself a Rahkshi; at two thousand years old, she should have at least four by now, but had yet to be able to produce one. Then again, perhaps that was his own fault. She had been created from the spare bits of his own soul, and maybe he hadn't given her enough...

"That is fascinating, child. So you found the lava pits."

She laughed, remembering them. "Yes. But, um, what did you summon me here for, Father? Vamprah implied that it was fairly urgent, and..."

"It is." He cut her off masterfully. "I have not had the time to interrogate you myself yet, and I know Icarax did a less-than-wonderful job at it-" He said his lieutenant's name with distaste, "-so I have decided to do it myself. I need to know everything you saw the day Turahk was taken."

"Alright." Silarial sat up straighter. Turahk's absence was like a void, he knew, particularly among his other Rahkshi - without him, they numbered only forty-one. "It was my turn for watch duty, so I went up into the guard-tower to relieve Krika once the suns went down. Turahk and a few others were foraging near the tower's base, though they left soon enough, leaving him alone..."

_She should be watching the island and the surrounding ocean for any intruders, she knew, but it was so much more fun to watch Turahk play with the baby Visorak he had caught. He sat there, with it running back and forth between his outstretched legs, batting it back with large red hands whenever it came close to escaping. His hissing laughs made her smile._

_She liked Turahk. The Rahkshi of Fear was a playful one, though his idea of play often involved the pain or at least discomfort of others. Once he got bored of playing with that baby Visorak, he would just eat it, she knew. And then she would turn away, to avoid having to see it as well as hear it._

_Turahk noticed her watching and shrieked up at her in greeting, keeping the tiny spider under his hand. She whistled back at him, smiling, then turned around to get back to watching out-_

_A flash of white and red, and something hard and heavy hit her in the back of the head. She staggered, crying out, hitting the side railing. Turahk shrieked again, hearing her, and she could hear him flying up to come help her. While she was trying to regain her bearings, she looked up, though before she could get a good idea of what her attacker looked like, it hit her again, in the forehead this time. She collapsed to the floor, and Turahk's enraged screeches faded as she blacked out._

_Hours later, she woke up with Shadrahk kneeling beside her, shaking her and calling out for her urgently. He managed to haul her to her feet, then ordered Illusorahk to help him get her to Mutran and Chirox, and Mentorahk to alert Master of the situation immediately..._

Teridax was quiet for a long moment after she finished, and she was afraid he would explode in a fit of rage at her for her carelessness. Instead, he finally said slowly, "White and red? That is all you saw?"

"Y-yes." She nodded quickly. "It was a little taller than me too, I think - maybe seven-foot...five? Six?" She blinked. "Why? Do you have an idea of who did it?"

"Perhaps."

Silarial tried again. "But...w-why would they want to take Turahk? Why'd they leave me behind and take him instead?" She'd been completely immobilized, after all, whereas Turahk had most likely gone down fighting. Any sane kidnapper would go for the unconscious female, not the terror-inducing reptile that was fighting claw and fang for revenge.

In truth, Teridax had no idea why this was, but he was grateful that Turahk was all they _had_ taken. Nor did he have any ideas of what might have done it, either. White and red? That fit any number of beings, none of which were stupid enough to come onto Destral's shores, attack a Makuta, and steal a Rahkshi. He growled, making his daughter wince.

"I do not know." he finally said to answer her question. "But I will find out soon enough." And until they had any real leads, it would be practically impossible to search for Turahk. Telepathy only extended so far, and he knew from repeated attempts that the red Rahkshi was very much out of range.

Despite his hopes to the contrary, Silarial couldn't offer him much more than that. She had been attacked, and was too dazed from a heavy blow to the head to get a good look at her attacker before being hit again. Blasted child...

He sighed. He worried about her sometimes, he really did, and this was precisely why.

"Vamprah and Icarax were acting...strange today..." she said suddenly, and his head shot up, eyes narrowing.

"Strange?" Teridax repeated, and she nodded.

"Yeah...Icarax and I were talking, and then Vamprah came up to tell me you wanted to see me, and they were..." She frowned, thinking. "Trading jabs, I guess."

Teridax exhaled slowly, his suspicion fading away. "They always do that, child. All of them do. It is how they entertain themselves. That, and random chaos and destruction."

"I know, but..." She paused again. "It was different this time."

"Different how?"

"Well...they were glaring at each other. Really bad, too. Vamprah said something about Icarax needing his Rahkshi to escort him to Chirox's lab so he could get his leg checked out, and Icarax told him to say that again, and then they glared at each other for a minute. It was kind of weird." She shivered, remembering.

What was happening had _better_ not be what he thought it was.

"I've just never seen them like that before. I mean, I know they're not exactly, uh, _fond_ of each other, but it looked like they were about to start ripping each other apart for a minute there." Silarial shrugged, still a little confused about it but apparently deciding that it was unimportant in the long run.

Teridax mulled this over for a moment. That _was_ odd, but as far as he could tell, it was nothing to be overly concerned with. He'd just have to tell his Rahkshi to keep an extra close eye on her from now on. But if _anything_ beyond random posturing happened...

"They did not do anything else?" he asked, just to be sure. If either of them, particularly Icarax, had-

"No," she said, interrupting his train of thought. "Vamprah and I left after that to come here, and he didn't say anything the whole way."

Teridax gave her a long, searching look, carefully feeling the outside of her mind, but she didn't appear to be lying. She squirmed a bit when she felt his mental probe, but didn't resist. Hm, that was good. If she had, he would have known he had cause to start getting angry, but her willingness to let him look reassured him. There was nothing for her to hide then.

Instead of going further like he knew she was expecting, he withdrew the mental probe. "Good. Now, onto other matters."

Silarial looked up at him, blue eyes trusting, completely trusting.

"You have been acting oddly recently." her father said. "Is there something bothering you?"

He didn't miss the way she stiffened up a little, though she recovered fast enough. A frown tried to steal across his face, and he fought to keep himself impassive. If she thought he was angry, nothing short of a brutal, full-on mind probe would get her to talk. "N-no...not really..." she said.

"You are lying." Teridax stated plainly, and her eyes flicked nervously around the room. "What has happened?"

"I-I-I-" Her eyes alighted on the kraata sleeping on his desk. "I've just been thinking lately that I want to make a Rahkshi, but I know I'm not strong enough to make one even though I've been practicing."

"You have been...practicing to make a Rahkshi?" His voice was disbelieving, making her squirm again.

"Um, yes. N-nothing too big, just practicing putting out little bits of energy to see how well I can do it." That last part actually wasn't a lie - she actually _had_ been trying to force some energy out of herself in the hopes that it would help her powers come back faster. Maybe if she pushed, they'd get the hint and return already. They _were_ coming back, she knew; she could feel them slowly returning, but that was just the problem - it was a slow progress. At this rate, another couple millennia would probably pass before she was strong enough to-

Teridax's amused chuckle broke her out of her panicked thoughts.

"That is a good idea. When do you think you will manage it?"

She shrugged, embarrassed. "I don't know. Hopefully soon, though..."

"Then practicing as much as possible would be a good idea." He was observing her as though she were a bug...but a bug that he was growing pleased with.

"Th-that was what I was thinking," she said, relieved. So he still didn't know...excellent. She could keep the game up for a while longer, and perhaps there was a way to recharge her powers faster.

* * *

**AN: Aaaaaaand that's it. All of this was completed quite a while ago, but I didn't post it because I wasn't quite sure about whether or not I was actually going to finish APWT. Still rather on the fence about it, but just in case, I'm not going to be posting any of the stuff on the main group just yet. Since all of this is more side stuff than anything (and somehow turned into _this_ monster), I figured it was OK to post.**

**Review me, please! ...or not, you know, only if you want... *mumble***


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